VOLUME 3 - ISSUE 3

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Financial Investment by Women: Reluctance to Take Risks Into Investing Their Own Money

Nitu Sharma
Volume 3, Issue 3
31 May 2023
Page No.: 4083-4098

This research paper aims to explore the perception of educated Indian working women regarding money investment and propose a solution based on the research findings to address this societal issue. To achieve this research objective, an online survey was conducted involving more than 100 educated working women. Additionally, a qualitative focus interview was conducted with five educated working women to gain deeper insights into their perception of money investment matters, considering emotional and cultural factors. The paper not only examines the perception of Indian women from emotional and cultural perspectives but also offers solutions to this issue. The study collected relevant data from research journals, articles, and online resources to support its findings.

Nitu Sharma
Head Marketing, Iron Mountain, India

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[2] Dusseja, A. (2016). Women and Family Investments: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Management and Applied Science, 2(12), 88. http://www.iraj.in/journal/journal_file/journal_pdf/14-322-148490790886-88.pdf

[3] Fachrudin, Khaira & Amalia Fachrudin, Khaira. (2016). The influence of education and experience toward investment decision with moderated by financial literacy. Polish Journal of Management Studies. https://bibliotekanauki.pl

[4] Financial Service Sector, Indian Financial System – IBEF. (n.d.). India Brand Equity Foundation. https://www.ibef.org/industry/financial-services-india

[5] Ganapathi, R., & Madhavan, V. (2021). A Study on Investment Behaviour and Attitude of Women Investors of Bangalore, Karnataka. Asian Journal of Managerial Science, 10(1), 44–49. https://doi.org/10.51983/ajms-2021.10.1.2818

[6] Guzior, B. (2018). Millennial women more financially savvy than they think. [online] Bizjournals.com [Accessed 20 Dec. 2018]. https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latestnews/2018/07/millennial-women-more-financially-savvy-than-they.html 

[7] Indians are wise savers but poor investors: Survey. (n.d.). International Business Times. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10738.56006 

[8] (n.d.). The Role of Working Women in Investment Decision Making in the Family in India. Research Gate. https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2020&context=aabfj

[9] Nielsen.com. (2012). Newswire | Decoding Global Investment Attitudes | Nielsen. [online] [Accessed 20 Dec. 2018] https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2012/decoding-globalinvestment-attitudes.html

[10] (2022, October 12). 59% working women do not make their own financial decisions: Survey, Mint. https://www.livemint.com/money/personal-finance/59-working-women-do-not-make-their-own-financial-decisions-survey-11665555051026.html

[11] Padiyath, S. (2013). Less than 1/4th of working women make own investment decisions: Study. [online]Business Standard [Accessed 18 Dec. 2018]. https://www.businessstandard.com/article/pf/less-than-1-4th-of-working-women-make-own-investmentdecisions-study-113071700584_1.html

[12] Parveen Kumar. (n.d.). A Study on Financial Inclusion in India. Global International Research Thoughts. https://www.academia.edu/35920713/A_Study_on_Financial_Inclusion_in_India

[13] Statista. (2022, September 13). Participation at work in India 2014-2022, by gender. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1043300/india-work-participation-by-gender/

[14] Tapasya Julka Malhotra, & Shravasti Jain. (n.d.-b). Financial Awareness among Working Women: An Empirical Study. Amity Management Review. https://www.amity.edu/jaipur/amr/pdf/jan-june-2017-vol6/3.pdf

[15] Vohra, Tina & Kaur, Mandeep. (2017). Women Investors: A Literature Review. Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research. 16. 11-19. 10.1177/0972622517706624. 

Sharma N. (2023). Financial Investment by Women: Reluctance to Take Risks Into Investing Their Own Money. International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law, 3(3), 4083-4098. 

http://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Financial-Investment-by-Women-Reluctance-to-Take-Risks-Into-Investing-Their-Own-Money.pdf

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A National Urban Employment Guarantee Act (NUEGA)

Shashwat Shukla
Volume 3, Issue 3
31 May 2023
Page No.: 4099-4111

In order to tackle problems of job creation, skill-employment mismatch and food security in urban areas, an act called the National Urban Employment Guarantee Act (NUEGA) is proposed along the lines of MGNREGA. The act promises to convert unused and fallow government and private land to bring it under ‘precision agriculture’ which will employ various strategies like aquaponics, fertigation and scientific agricultural water management practices with a direct link to urban markets due to the lands being embedded into the metropolis areas. The employment will guarantee 150 days of work in urban agriculture to people who are registered as low-skill unemployed workers for 6 months or more on the NUEGA web portal or centres. All lands categorised as cultivable waste, urban fallow and lands under some private occupation but lying unused for 20 years or more shall be brought under NUEGA cultivation with proper compensation. One component of the agricultural produce shall be sold at MSP or higher in urban markets and the profits used to purchase farm inputs and pay NUEGA compensation at minimum wages. Alongside this, a separate component of skill training in mechanical operations of modern farm equipment and micro irrigation can be taken up to ensure upskilling of the workers so that they don’t permanently rely on the NUEGA for employment. 

Another component of the produce shall be kept aside for National Food Security Act-based supply for the urban poor. The produce shall thus also help ensure food security for the urban areas and job security for the urban poor. It will also help reduce land use wastage and to better manage the urban landscape. Similar cases from India and other countries shall be studied to examine the viability and use of this scheme. It also looks to provide choices for migrant workers and increase turnover rates to lift multiple people out of poverty over time. An attachment of Urban Agriculture and food security to the aim of job creation means that the results produced by the scheme aren’t simply ‘economic’ in nature but ‘embedded’ (Gemici, 2007) into the social realities and prior skills that they bring to the urban area. 

Shashwat Shukla
M.A. Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

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[5] Chatterjee, N., Fernandes, G., & Hernandez, M. (2012). Food insecurity in urban poor households in Mumbai, India. Food Security, 4(4), 619–632. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-012-0206-z

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[7] CMIE. (2023). Unemployment rate in India. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://unemploymentinindia.cmie.com/

[8] Dhasmana, I. (2022). Identifying works and funding key to national urban job scheme. Business Standard. https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/rajasthan-govt-set-to-launch-job-guarantee-scheme-for-the-urban-poor-122090900475_1.html

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[11] FAO. (2016). Migration, agriculture and rural development. https://www.fao.org/3/i6064e/i6064e.pdf

[12] Gemici, K. (2007). Karl Polanyi and the antinomies of embeddedness. Socio-Economic Review, 6(1), 5–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwl034

[13] Goel, S. (2022, September 3). Urban unemployment in India rises to 9.57 per cent in August, shows CMIE data . . . The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2022/sep/03/urban-unemployment-in-india-rises-to-957-per-centin-august-shows-cmie-data-2494401.html

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Shukla S. (2023). A National Urban Employment Guarantee Act (NUEGA). International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law, 3(3), 4099-4111. 

https://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/A-National-Urban-Employment-Guarantee-Act-NUEGA.pdf 

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Women from the Periphery: Experiences of Women in Mumbai’s Local Trains

Jina Maria
Volume 3, Issue 3
31 May 2023
Page No.: 4112-4166

The centrality of Mumbai’s Suburban Railway network or Mumbai Locals in the lives of the people of Mumbai has been a well-documented one. But the changing urban landscape due to globalization and neo-liberal policies of the State, along with a global pandemic has forced a rethinking of its centrality. In this context, this thesis aims to understand the experiences of women who live in the peripheral areas and commute for work or study to the city centres. It does so by examining what going out to work/study entails for women’s agency and well-being. It shows that the harrowing conditions in the Mumbai Locals complicate the question of whether going out to work necessarily improves the well-being and agency of women. On the other hand, it also shows the significance of the ‘ladies’ compartment’ which represents a critical space of mobility for female Mumbaikars, as a space where women have quietly and collaboratively repurposed public infrastructure to meet their day-to-day needs.

Jina Maria
M.A. Social Work (Women-Centred Practice), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

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Maria J. (2023). Women from the Periphery: Experiences of Women in Mumbai’s Local Trains. International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law, 3(3), 4112-4166. 

http://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Women-from-the-Periphery-Experiences-of-Women-in-Mumbais-Local-Trains.pdf

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Women and Work: A Gendered Analysis of Unpaid Labour and Low FLFPR in India

Disha Trivedi
Volume 3, Issue 3
1 November 2023
Page No.: 4167-4178

The most recent Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data released by the National Statistical Office of India for 2021-22, shows that the labour force participation rate for women stands at less than 25%, which is even lower than what it used to be 30 years ago. The counter-intuitive phenomenon of women working less, even amid increasing secondary education rates for women and the overall economic development of the country, is puzzling. This paper argues that unpaid domestic and care services breed gender inequality which spills into labour outcomes for women. To support the hypothesis, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank is descriptively analysed along with the Time Use Survey conducted in Indian households in 2019. The Time Use survey found that women spend a disproportionate amount of time engaged in unpaid labour in the household, performing activities such as cooking, cleaning, and childhood and elderly care; while men spend less than half the time doing the same. This results in a marked time of poverty. Domestic and care work received by families through women’s unpaid labour subsidizes the cost of the same for the household, and yet it robs them of financial independence. The paper also reconciles falling participation rates with economic development and discusses possible explanations. Showing that social norms are a major hindrance to women’s employment, the concluding section of the paper calls for a gender equitable redistribution of care and household work; and public investment in the care economy, to improve labour force participation rates for women in India

Disha Trivedi
B.A. Hons. Economics, Lady Shri Ram College For Women, University of Delhi

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http://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Women-and-Work-A-Gendered-Analysis-of-Unpaid-Labour-and-Low-FLFPR-in-India.pdf

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Beyond Decision-Making: Unveiling the Transformative Role of Participatory Planning Tools for Community Empowerment

Nishtha Kashyap
Volume 3, Issue 3
3 December 2023
Page No.: 4179-4206

Community engagement can be considered as a “purposeful process which develops a working relationship between communities, community organizations and public and private bodies to help them to identify and act on community needs and ambitions” (Geekiyanage et al., 2020). This process is very important as it allows one to have a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down one and through this, one can actually identify the needs of the communities and the interventions that will work for them. Many community engagement sessions are done by including representatives from the community along with other stakeholders in the decision-making process leading to a participatory process. Some argue that the degree to which the recipients of a decision are involved in making the decision is the degree to which the decision will be accepted by the public. Conversely, the degree to which the decision-makers are involved in the citizen process is the degree to which the conclusions will be implemented with ease and speed. The greater the range of alternative futures considered in the process, the more likely it is that the conclusions will have a positive and lasting impact. Hence, the purpose of participatory processes is to improve decision-making. Such processes can also educate participants and build consensus for action (Glenn, 2003).

Nishtha Kashyap
B. Architecture, University School of Architecture and Planning, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University

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Kashyap N. (2023). Beyond Decision-Making: Unveiling the Transformative Role of Participatory Planning Tools for Community Empowerment. International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law, 3(3), 4179-4206. 

http://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Beyond-Decision-Making-Unveiling-the-Transformative-Role-of-Participatory-Planning-Tools-for-Community-Empowerment_Nishtha-Kashyap.pdf

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