Financial security top concern for 59% working women in India

Working women have many concerns, the top three of which are women’s rights, financial security and mental and physical health. Globally, 59 per cent women feel their top concern is women’s rights, followed by financial security (58 per cent), and mental and physical health (56 per cent), says the 2023 Women@Work report by Deloitte.

In Australia, on the other hand, 61 per cent women felt their top concern was women women’s rights, 59 per cent it was finanial security and 58 per cent said it was mental and physical health.

In China, however, the biggest concern was mental health for 50 per cent working women, followed by financial security (48 per cent) and cost of living (49 per cen).

In the UK, financial security was the biggest concern for 62 per cent women, followed by women’s rights for 60 per cent women and mental health for 58 per cent working women.

In terms of stress levels, globally, 51 per cent women feel stress levels are high for them than they were a year ago, while in India, 53 per cent women admit stress levels are higher than a year ago.

While globally, 40 per cent women professionals feel they are getting adequate mental health support from their employers, in India, only 38 per cent working women have the same opinion.

About 28 per cent of working women, globally, feel burnt out, while in India, 31 per cent feel so.

While 25 per cent of working women globally, feel comfortable discussing mental health challenges as the reason for their absence, in India, 26 per cent working women feel the same way.

Clearly, young Indian women professionals are more comfortable speaking about and discussing mental health at the workplace than their global counterparts. Globally, only 27 per cent women in the 18 to 25 age bracket feel comfortable discussing mental health, while in India, a significant 36 per cent in that age bracket are fine with discussing mental health issues at the workplace. However, in the age bracket of 55 to 64, about 32 per cent of women, globally, are comfortable discussing workplace mental health issues, while in India, only 26 per cent in that age bracket feel comfortable.

While 85 per cent of Indian women with high flexibility at work felt their productivity was good or extremely good, only 41 per cent of the women with no flexibility were of the same opinion.

A whopping 91 per cent of the women with high flexibility admitted to being extremely loyal to their employer, while only 41 per cent of the women with no flexibility felt loyalty towards their employer.