Late last year, there was news of a law being drafted, that would require husbands to pay a “salary” to his wife if the latter were a homemaker. As expected, there were many discussions on this law and, interestingly, some men’s groups vehemently opposed this proposal. I am very much for gender neutral laws in a society that professes gender equality; nor do I think that the contribution of a model mother or wife can be put down in monetary terms. However, in this particular case, I think this biased law which may seem anti-male can actually help correct some of the gender-related issues in our legal and social setup.
Firstly, due to misguided feminist influences, women are increasingly under pressure to earn a salary by working outside the home which, they are constantly reminded, fetches them greater respect in the society. This puts many women who are generally content filling their irreplaceable traditional roles in society under great stress to shoulder an additional burden. If such a law comes into effect, housewives who support their husbands thus enabling him to get a high salary, and being paid a share of this salary, can in many cases flaunt a higher pay check than women who are forced to accept an outside job merely due to peer pressure. This would hopefully make the job of a homemaker a respectable one even in the eyes of those who cannot see value except in terms of money. Those women who are genuinely interested in pursuing a career would continue to do that, since they’re more likely to earn more from their career than they’re entitled to by this law.
Over to the next point. Our tax laws have a bias against families where one is wage-earner and the other home-maker. This is because the tax slabs are for the individual and not for the family (In fact, even Hindu Undivided Families seem to fall under the same slabs as individuals, the rationale behind which I fail to understand). So if both the husband and wife get a salary just below the exemption limit, they do not need to pay any tax whereas one of them getting a salary equal to double the exemption limit will have to pay tax on half the income of that family. So, if part of the salary of the husband can be paid to his housewife as per the proposed law and both are assessed only for the part of the salary they keep, the couple will have to pay only as much tax (probably lesser) than when both are wage-earners and together earn the same income. So this will give families with homemakers the same economic advantage as others, thereby discouraging women from seeking a job outside the house for any reason other than their own passion.
So, in an ideal situation where homemakers get the respect they deserve, and tax is calculated on the income of the family rather than on each member’s, the proposed law will be counter-productive. But till then, I suppose having such a law might actually do some economic good to families that are rooted in traditional values.
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