Bhagwat and Rajguru

face challenging responsibilities to work as well as to look after the family. And

it is a very difficult task to completely satisfy these twin demands. Blom (2011)

reported that women had higher general life stress than men.

‘It’s an accepted and a natural way of life for the Indian working women to do

housework. From the time they are born, the conditioning starts. House work first

starts like a game with dolls and toys that consist of a set of pressure cooker, gas-

stove, mixer etc. As she grows up, her gradual initiation into household chores is

a natural progression. The middle and lower class working women, it’s a daily,

non-stop 5 am- 11pm routine for most part of their lives…with no domestic help

either in the form of maids or in-laws at home.’ (Iyengar, 2013)

Significance of the study

We have around 50% women in Indian democracy. Education and employment

is increasingly becoming a common course of life for women in India. These

recent sociological developments have brought with it many changes. Change in

socio-economic and educational status of women, her responsibilities, her roles,

comforts in life-style, causing a plethora of demands that strain human body and

mind. Today, women face competing obligations to work and to look after the

family. Working Woman is the one, who is employed for a salary, fees or wages

and producing or generating any income for herself and her family.

It is a general observation that in spite of the working status of women they have

to carry out most of the household responsibilities in the family. While working

men can relax and recoup their energies at home, women shift from completing

their responsibilities at work from undertaking their duties at home. The present

effort would give headway to many other relevant issues concerning working

women such as status of working women in Indian families, burden of domestic

responsibilities on working women, causes of stress creation and its management

by working women, health concerns of working women, harassment of working

women at home and at workplace, etc. to bring due realization of factual situation.

Review of related studies

According to Yapp (2014) women still have to do the lion’s share of housework

despite going out to work in ever increasing numbers. He found out that women

put in three times more time and energy for domestic chores, such as cooking,

cleaning and washing, than their partners, One in five men admitted to doing

nothing at all around the home, the average working time at home was 17 hours a

week for women as compared to just under six hours for men. However, more than

25% of women spend more than 21 hours a week on domestic chores excluding

childcare, which is also traditionally seen as a women domain. He further added

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