A house-help comes at the cost of a family’s disposable income. Thus, a dependent spouse hires a pickpocket to her monthly saving in the opinion of an efficient economist seated on the left side of her brain. But, had the economy of managing a house been so simple, the complexity of hiring and maintaining a house-help wouldn’t have been so contradictory often bearing economic biases towards women- where some seem to give birth to internal bias towards their own kind. 

Dependent

“I have a problem with dependency. I need no help.” When a woman loses all hope of financial freedom, the rage behind acknowledging her social reality becomes her fuel in resisting any kind of submission where she has to ask for money. Defiance at best, the statement is often put: “ Let it be. I will do it on my own.” The household chores aren’t shared. Gender equality is a far cry. A woman does  shadow employment while a man earning not only for himself but also for the dependents is neck deep in juggling finances. He loses the urge to help around the house as he is mentally exhausted and can’t dry the pots and pans let alone put it in place. “ Hire a help. But don’t ask me! ” The insidious nature of this statement makes a woman save from the saving.  Already living in the oscillating identity of a homemaker and help, she lives in the guilt of being a shirk for not doing enough leading to an internal bias towards herself. 

 Independent

She earns. She buys. She holidays. She likes to party but when the time comes to split the bill, she doesn’t . Aghast! The boys call her hypocrite. Why? Why is she obsessively into saving that she can’t share? Why is that woman still wearing the cloak of her dependent mother? Why can’t she break free? Why does she think that her financial independence will be short-lived? Why is she so unsure of herself? Why aren’t enough women financially literate to open more than one channel of income? Why can’t we raise a generation of women financially bold to break away from the generational trauma of saving excessively? Why don’t women marry a man on par with their earning potential and choose to settle with someone who is earning better than themselves? Why is this anxiety? Why aren’t men discussing rate cards meant for house-help in the society groups? Why they choose to remain noncommittal? 

Contradiction 

The world runs on money. In the exchange of services, a homemaker’s labour is invisible because it doesn’t generate wealth. Thus the ‘onus’ shifts on man to provide. Unfairly dictating the rules of the game inside the house, the house-help is employed ostensibly for the women which  in turn exposes her to societal biases . The lopsided economy excludes women once she embraces motherhood. As the economy doesn’t give her confidence enough to have a chance to work in future, she marries a man who is better at earning than her. In this scenario, a women’s supposed economic well-being comes at the cost of social well-being. She is still trapped in the whirlpool of economic uncertainty and social degradation. Her social situation hasn’t changed much. Eventually, she is a help in better living conditions.