India passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act in 2017.

It gave working mothers 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, initiating from the 12th week of their pregnancy. It was meant to take the load off working mothers who have to manage a home as well.

The law was supposed to prove advantageous for women, but many predicted the opposite of that would happen, and it did.

Over a million Indian women employed in various sectors such as the IT industry, retail, BPOs, and more, lost out on jobs because employers do not find providing maternity leave “benefits” to them feasible, as per the research by TeamLease.

“This is a bigger problem in micro and small enterprises. The six-month maternity leave has had very wide and positive acceptance among large organizations.” Saundarya Rajesh of the Avtar Group (a company which champions inclusivity and diversity in the workforce) told the Times Of India.

So, this discrimination is making women unemployed rapidly causing a crooked sex ratio of employed citizens, since there are no laws or benefits of encouraging companies to hire women currently.

Motherhood is a default job and especially, for a lot of women without a support system that willing to split parental responsibilities.

Many women have been quitting their work after having babies.

Due to the temporary absence of mothers who re-join work after a sabbatical post-delivery, may lag behind in their careers since they miss out on projects and promotions.

This law was passed for women who are expecting and to ensure a level playing field and some sort of financial security but the law has been backfiring for quite a while.

Even after women go back to work post-delivery. It doesn’t seem they were equally happy to be working as they still have an infant to worry about. This law wasn’t enough for working mothers as passing this law was called a band-aid solution for a bullet hole.

A child is the responsibility of both men and women but societal pressure burden mothers with responsibilities. As a result, their careers suffer irrespective of the law. Passing this law doesn’t remedy that, and only pays women to spend more time on raising children.