A Study on Work-Life Balance Challenges of Women in Indian Healthcare

This report delves into the critical issue of work-life balance among Indian women employed in the healthcare sector. It highlights the challenges stemming from family and work conflicts, which often lead to lower life satisfaction and increased stress. The study examines various influencing factors, including family size, children's ages, working hours, and social support. It explores the impact of modernization, increased education, and economic pressures on women's decisions to enter the workforce. The report further investigates the stressors associated with work and family roles, emphasizing the multiple responsibilities faced by Indian women. It analyzes the problem statement, aims to identify the root causes of work-life imbalance, and objectives to understand the impact on women's lives. The research methodology includes a structured approach with background, problem statement, aims, objectives, conceptual framework, literature review, methodology, ethical considerations, results, and conclusions. The report also touches upon the societal context, including the challenges faced by pregnant women and the need for better support systems to achieve a healthy work-life balance. The research questions focus on the root causes of the problems and the current structure and effect of work-life balance on women in India.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
WORK-LIFE BALANCE OF THE WOMEN IN INDIA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Background................................................................................................................................2
Problem Statement.....................................................................................................................4
Aims and Objectives..................................................................................................................6
Structure of research..................................................................................................................6
Conceptual framework...............................................................................................................7
Literature Review ......................................................................................................................9
Methodology .............................................................................................................................9
Research strategy ......................................................................................................................9
Ethical consideration .................................................................................................................9
Results .......................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion and Recommendations ...........................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Background
Work-life balance has become a major factor associated with the life of women in
India. According to various research studies, it has been observed that family and work
conflict (FWC) and WFC (work-family conflict) has been a major issue in the lives of
women who are employed in several professional sectors. This condition has been found to
cause lower levels of life satisfaction and higher levels of conflicts inside the family
(Thriveni and Rama 2018). Different research studies have been found to consist of various
variables which influence the level of FWC and WFC. The variables observed for this study
include family size, the age of children, working hours and the level state of social support
which impacts the experiences of FWC and WFC. These conclusions have been observed
have been drawn based on the wellbeing and psychological distress of the working women.
Indian families have been observed to be undergoing fast changes because of their increased
speed of modernization and urbanization. In recent times, the exposure of women towards
education has increased from what it was a few decades ago (Chattopadhyay 2018). This
condition has been found to have arisen from the increased growth of urban settings in India.
During the present times, women have been found to be exposed to educational opportunities,
which is higher than in a previous state. This condition has been found to open new views
with increased aspirations and awareness’s for personal growth in women. The decision of
women to enter a workforce has been found to be significantly influenced by the instrumental
factor associated with economic pleasure. Most of the studies performed in India has shown
that married women in India start working only for economic needs. Thus, it can be stated
that this is the primary reason for working for women in India. Various research studies
proved that family life is mostly affected by the job performances of women and working
attitudes (Dwivedi and Khan 2019). The results have been found to reveal that women who
are pregnant or have children have a significantly lower commitment in occupations relative

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to women without any children. The primary significance level of the work associated
stressors has been found to be significantly higher than the stressors which are related to the
functions related to the family. However, the relationship between family functioning,
wellbeing and stress have been found to be significant. Women have been reported to have
multiple roles that have associated with psychological and physical health than women who
play fewer roles in involvement. Thus, it can be stated that Indian women are reported to be
more exposed to work in today’s era than they were previously. This paper will focus on
discussing the work-life balance among Indian women who are placed in professional
sectors. According to various research studies women have been found to be cherished by
motivational stimulation, sense of control, self-esteem, bursts of energy and physical stamina
from the associated workplace (Jain, Srivastava and Cubico 2018).
Various articles have stated a promotion of importance in work-life balance, which
highlights the current concern located within the organizations and societies which impacts
the levels of physical health and mental health among the associated women (Bharucha
2016). There are various variables, which have been found to affect the work-life balance of
women who are employed in various sectors. Work-life balance has been noted as
maintenance of equilibrium between one’s responsibilities at home and work. Family and
Work have been found to act as antagonist spheres that are equally greedy of time, energy
and responsibility for WFC (work-family conflict). Various other problems have been
observed to be faced by women (employed in various sectors) who are associated with
finding affordable and adequate access to the elderly and childcare (Parida 2016). WFC has
also been defined as the inter role conflict in which some work responsibilities from the
family and work domains which are incompatible and have a negative influence on the work
situation of employees. There are various roles that have been found to cause stress or inter
role conflict. Thus, it can be stated that work-life balance has not been maintained well by the

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women who are employed in various sectors. WFC and FWC have been observed and
generally considered as distinct however related factors. One of the most significant
examples of the workforce and family conflicts for employed women in India is the quitting
of the job due to higher working hours when a woman gets pregnant (Chandler and Chandler
2018). However, although this condition is prevalent in India. Few of the foreign countries
have found to reduce the workforce for employed women who have to be concerned with
their family at a certain period of time. Finland is one of the countries which has reduced the
workforce on women by reducing the working hours for them. Pregnant women have been
found to be associated with reduced working hours which is completely supported by the
organizations of Finland (Leinonen et al. 2018).
Problem Statement
The research topic is very much important because of the increasing workforce in the
life of women in India. The selected topic of this research is a flourishing one and deals with
a major section of the Indian population. Major conflicts have been associated with the
chosen topic of the research study. The problem statement of this research study will state the
problems associated with the chosen topic, which becomes the reason for performing the
research study. This is because if the fact that work-life balance has not been found to be
maintained properly in the lives of women India. Women have been experiencing heavy
economic issues in India for a long period of time due to various social and family associated
problems. Therefore the urge to be economically independent has become higher in women
in today's India than in the past. Work-life balance has become a major problem in India
especially in women who are married or are pregnant (Kavya and Kramer 2019). Most of the
Indian women say that work-life balance is the biggest and the hardest challenges at the
workplace. Working women have been found to face challenges which men do not have to
face. According to the reports of TimesJobs poll work-life balance has been reported to cause

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problems in 41% of total women in India who are employed in various private and public
sectors and 20% face harassment in various sectors. These two factors are the most critical
issues associated with women present in their workplaces. The phrase "Work-life balance" is
used to define practices that are associated with the achievement of a balance between the
significant hassles of the family and the work-life of women (Agarwal 2019). Work pressure
has been ever increasing and has been found to take a lot of time from their life leaving them
less time for their personal life. In today's life, most of the women in India have been reported
to be associated with corporate life. This factor has a huge impact on the advancement of
women. In the past, women were found to be work as homemakers but because of the ever-
increasing living cost, women had to come out of their homes and search for jobs. In the
office, women have a high designation. Various research studies have been found to consist
of various factors that influence the level of WFC and FWC (Shukla 2019). The variables
observed for this study include the age of children, working hours, family size and the level
state of social support which impacts the experiences of WFC and FWC. This is because of
the fact that women have to maintain their responsibilities in their roles in professional as
well as their domestic life. Thus, it can be stated that to achieve an excellent quality of life,
women have to achieve the work-life balance by prioritizing both her job and her family at
the same time. Women have been found to be more exposed to challenges while working in
various sectors in India than their counterparts in other countries. According to a research
paper, the women community has been found to be destitute as compared to the male
community. Women have also been found to hand over their salaries to their father, husband
or their father in law, which increases the pressure on them economically (Looze 2017).
Women in India are also not given the first precedence in an economic and social decision in
their own family. Women in India have a lot of responsibilities which are cooking, taking
care of their family, taking care of children, cleaning home, washing clothes, making food for

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all of their family members and to continue their job. This is because of the fact that men in
India have not been found to share with the household work with their women partners. A
pregnant woman has been found to be more affected by the challenges faced by a work-life
imbalance in India. She can neither show a great efficiency in her job nor provide enough
support to her family as she herself needs care from her family members. This factor has been
identified as the most significant challenge faced by employed women in India. These are the
overall problem statements of this research and the reason for performing this research study.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this research study is to identify the challenges faced by Indian women while
maintaining their work-life balance, after getting employed in a particular sector. The
secondary aim is to find out the factors which push them away from their work. These are the
overall aims of this research study.
The objectives of this research study are as follows-
 To identify the root of all the problems faced by working women in India.
 To understand the effect of work-life balance on women living in India.
The research questions of this paper are-
RQ1: What are the root causes of the problems faced by working women in India.
RQ2: What is the current structure and effect of work-life balance on women living in India.
Structure of research
There are five main parts of a research study. This includes title, author details,
Introduction and Problem Statement, Limitations of the study, Discussion of research
methodology, body of the assignment and the conclusion. The structure of a research paper is
defined as the sequence of all the subsections of the paper written under a subheading. For

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example, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion are generally written under the
structure of a research study.
The structure of this research paper is Background, Problem Statement, Aims and
Objectives, Conceptual framework, Literature Review, Methodology, Research strategy,
Ethical Considerations, Results, and conclusion. This structure has been selected for this
research study because this is a qualitative research study. Secondary data will be collected
from the research papers taken for the review of the literature associated with the selected
topic.
Conceptual framework
The conceptual framework discusses the backbone of concepts on which the whole
research study is standing on. Every research study has a specific conceptual framework in
order to justify its problem statement and the purpose of the research. To discuss the
conceptual framework of the research the importance of the work-life balance of women
needs to be discussed. Various studies have shown that the mainstream of women who are
working on 40-45 hours per week, 50% of them had to pose great effort which has to attain
the work-life balance (Munn and Chaudhuri 2016). The primary reason behind the great
effort is the challenge that is associated with the burden of their home commitments and the
organization. According to the daily desires of the family, multiple schedules, business
meetings, and other jobs at times, women need to manage their time. Women present at their
workplace are needed to be taken care of by their co employers. The first conceptual
framework that can be linked with the cause of challenges faced by women at their workplace
is directly associated with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This theory is taken as the primary
framework of this research because women move out for jobs because of their needs. Maslow
produced a motivational theory in the field of psychology which comprises a five-tier human

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needs model which has been often depicted as the pyramidal hierarchy levels (Verma and
Sharma 2018). The bottom of the pyramid has the largest space which consists of the
physiological needs of a human being. As the pyramid is climbed up, safety needs, love and
belongings, esteem and self-actualisation needs are observed till the top of the pyramid.
Economic needs also fall in the love and belongings section which lies in the middle of the
pyramid. Thus, it can be stated that once a woman fails to achieve this need, the pyramid gets
distorted and she has to look for a job in order to get her needs fulfilled. Then the problem of
workforce begins which leads to stress, anxiety, and imbalance of work and family life for a
woman. This conceptual framework is directly associated with the root cause of the corporate
life initiation for women in India. This theory can also be used to identify the challenges
faced by working women in India. Most of the women in India have to marry because of the
traditional beliefs and to fulfill the wish of their parents. This condition has been found by
many research studies based on sociology. After they get to this stage of life, the problem of
work-life balance shows up. The problem increases when they get pregnant. Some women
have their own desires to work and some have to opt for a job in order to support their family.
The first section can be linked to Maslow's theory of self-actualisation. These are the overall
details of the conceptual framework that can be used for this research study.

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Literature Review (3500)
Methodology (1000)
Research strategy (1000)
Ethical consideration (500)
Results (2500)
Conclusion and Recommendations (2000)

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References
Agarwal, R., 2019. A Study of Work Life Balance among Woman Employees in Financial
Sector in India.
Bharucha, J., 2016. The Myth of Work Life Balance Among Working women in Urban
India. International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences, 6(3), pp.388-394.
Chandler, R.K. and Chandler, D.D., 2018. Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Access and
Workforce Training at the Clinic and Practice Level.
Chattopadhyay, A., 2018. A study on status of higher education of women and economic
empowerment in India. research journal of social sciences, 9(7).
Dwivedi, H. and Khan, S., 2019. Work family balance and job satisfaction in women
academicians of Northern India. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary
Research, 9(3), pp.158-165.
Jain, A.K., Srivastava, S. and Cubico, S., 2018. Women Entrepreneurship in India: A Work-
Life Balance Perspective. In Entrepreneurship and the Industry Life Cycle (pp. 301-311).
Springer, Cham.
Kavya, P. and Kramer, M.W., 2019. The Impact of Maternity Leave Advice within the
Academy on Work-Life Balance of Women Faculty and Administrators. Developing Women
Leaders in the Academy Through Enhanced Communication Strategies, p.75.
Leinonen, T., Solovieva, S., Husgafvel-Pursiainen, K., Laaksonen, M. and Viikari-Juntura,
E., 2018. Work participation trajectories before and after vocational rehabilitation in
Finland. European Journal of Public Health, 28(suppl_4), pp.cky214-098.

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Looze, J., 2017. Why Do (n't) they leave?: Motherhood and women's job mobility. Social
science research, 65, pp.47-59.
Munn, S.L. and Chaudhuri, S., 2016. Work–life balance: A cross-cultural review of dual-
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Parida, S.S., 2016. Work life balance practices in India. IJARIIE, 2 (6), 325, 330.
Shukla, K., 2019. Work-Life Balance of Dual Earner Families. Journal of the Gujarat
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Thriveni, K.K. and Rama, D.V., 2018. Impact of demographic variables on work-life balance
of women employees (with special reference to Bangalore City). IJAME.
Verma, P. and Sharma, D., 2018. Quality of Work Life in Academics with reference to
Motivational Theories. Pacific Business Review International, 11(4), pp.159-165.