Time Invested by Homemaker Same as Husband's at Office: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has recently announced a hearing concerning the financial value of homemakers in the country. The apex court announced that a woman's work at home has the same value as her office-going husband.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant emphasized on the concept of 'notional income' and how it should be calculated for homemakers.

As part of the judgement, Justice Ramana reportedly made pertinent observations regarding the different jobs done by homemakers and explained that this would evaluate to what an employed person would be paid at work.

"A housemaker often prepares food for the entire family, manages the procurement of groceries and other household shopping needs, cleans and manages the house and its surroundings, undertakes decoration, repairs and maintenance work, looks after the needs of the children and any aged member of the household, manages budgets and so much more," read the judgment.

Notably, the declaration of Supreme Court came in line with the appeal against a Motor Accident Compensation Claim filed by the kin of a couple killed in an accident. Of the deceased couple, the husband was an employed teacher while the wife was a homemaker. Reportedly, a certain body had demanded insurance covers worth Rs 40.71 lakh as compensation to the affected family, but Delhi High Court ruled out the amount and reduced it to Rs 22 lakh.

The mentioned kin, however, reached the apex court to challenge the Delhi High Court verdict. On Tuesday therefore, the SC bench partly reversed the order and increased the compensation by Rs 11.20 lakh to Rs 33.20 lakh. Notably, the insurance company is also supposed to pay a 9% annual interest from May 2014. 

Speaking of the insurance company and its statement that "no future prospects ought to be considered for those with the notional income", the Supreme Court stated that such ideologies are both incorrect before the law and do not hold any merit. 

 Saying that on a daily basis, a woman would give 134 minutes of unpaid caregiving services to her family members, as compared to the 76 minutes of a man, the SC Bench called the verdict "a step towards the constitutional vision of social equality and ensuring the dignity of life to all individuals."

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