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Society
Money Wise:
How Women Are Handling Recession
by
Ramesh Menon
How long do you think this
recession will last? That's the question everyone has been asking.
Experts are not very sure but they say that it is not going to go away
in a hurry and, unfortunately, the worst is yet to come! This has
ignited a lot of concern among working women, many of whom are seeing a
downturn in their workplaces. This is unchartered territory for most and
women are learning to negotiate it the hard way by tweaking their
expenses and altering their lifestyles like never before.
India is one of the countries relatively less affected by the global
economic crisis - economies in the West are already in recession - but
millions of families here have acted quickly to slice their spending
habits. Of course, leading the new conservative trend are women who, are
more often than not, responsible for managing home finances. Many are
putting on hold all spending that can wait.
In the new scenario, women are counseling paranoid husbands to be more
cautious of new ventures. They are largely investing family money in
good old bank deposits that are more dependable and putting off
expensive vacation plans. Many are also trimming family spending by
cutting down on entertainment, eating out and buying new clothes. There
is also a greater care taken on avoiding the careless use of electricity
and fuel.
Delhi-based Sridevi Sunderajan, 46, a public relations executive with an
international NGO says, "With recession and jobs cuts, there is so much
uncertainty about the immediate future. I have put a stop on any big
buys. I had planned the renovation of my house, which is long pending
and for which I have already saved up, but now I would rather wait. I am
doing an audit of my family's expenditure to see where I can cut costs.
I now look for cheaper options everywhere, though we are just a family
of two."
Suddenly, the Indian middle class dream seems to have become just that,
a dream. Every year, employees wait eagerly for their annual increments.
Things are different this year. In fact, from small enterprises to the
big guys, salary cuts are now the norm. Recently, a television channel's
head wrote to the employees saying that the top management had agreed to
take a 20 per cent cut in salary. The inference is that soon, they too
would have to agree to a similar move.
Another effect of the crisis has been that women haven't got carried
away with the year-end sales - something that is usually the highlight
of the festive season and New Year. Financial discipline is a concept
that many more are diligently following as they prepare for the tough
days ahead.
Rajni Pradhan, 27, Senior Manager, Knight Frank, real estate consultants
in Pune, has started using her landlines more than the cell phone. She
has cut down on eating out, socializing, let go of the cook, got her
husband to call his business associates home for dinner instead of
entertaining them in restaurants, and so on. Her husband, Alok, had
three mobile phones, two of which he hardly ever used but got billed for
every month. Rajni has now got rid of the two phones. "It was not easy
asking the cook to leave as it put additional burden on me, but we all
have to learn to cope," she observes quietly.
It is not just at home that Rajni is battling the recession. At work,
she ensures that computers are switched off when not in use. She has
also taken on new job roles to hone her skills and, more importantly, to
keep the specter of the pink slip at bay. Then there are the others
small switchovers: Now, for instance, when she travels on work to
Mumbai, she hops on to a bus or a train instead of the more convenient
taxi.
Sulina Menon, 44, a media and brand consultant in New Delhi, is upset
seeing so many of her friends losing their jobs, as downscaling takes
place. She knows that it is only a matter of time before she too gets
affected. As a freelancer, projects will be fewer and far-between in the
months to come. "All of us will have to tighten our belts," she warns.
The Nielsen Online Global Consumer Survey conducted by Nielsen Consumer
Research a couple of months ago in the United States with 28,663
Internet users showed that only 11 per cent of women felt that there
would be an end to recession soon, as compared with 27 per cent of men.
There has been no similar survey in India, but the situation here is no
different. Women appeared to be more concerned and anxious than their
male counterparts.
Another recent study by Cambridge University suggested that if there
were more women in top power positions, the global financial crisis
might have been less in scope and impact. Dr Gita Piramal, author of
'Managing Radical Change', would agree: "Thinking things through, being
authentic, ready to get your hands dirty and get down to the frontline
yourself, being nurturing and supportive, these are traditionally a
woman's traits but they rise to the fore in a crisis situation."
Women are heralding subtle lifestyle changes and know that a salary cut
is not far away. There is, however, no unnecessary panic. They know that
all it takes to control a money crisis is to increase financial
discipline, consult experts before making investment plans and upgrade
skills so that they do not become redundant in the office.
Some like Sridevi are even exploiting the recession, making smart
investments right now. She could not get any blue-chip company shares
during the boom, so now she is getting her husband to research on what
to buy as the prices are low.
February 15, 2009
By arrangement with
WFS
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