Can husbands work at home with their wives? #HerMoney with Monika Halan

'Indian women deal with money differently' - says Monika Halan, consulting editor, Mint Money, and a certified financial planner. She talks about why women in India should keep their investments and balance sheets in order. She recently published a book, #LetsTalkMoney that serves as a DIY for personal finance.  

This video-article is a part of a #HerMoney series with Monika Halan, that explores women in India and money. This edition is about how Indian husbands can work at home with their wives. (In case, they aren't doing it already!) 

YourStory: How can the husbands contribute to the household?

MH: Women multitask much better than men, but that does not prevent the men from sharing and participating in household jobs or child-care.

There are a trillion other ways in which a man can participate. I would agree that a mother has a special bond with a baby and the time you spend with your child in the first five years is incredible - in terms, of what it does to the baby’s emotional health. However, that said, it doesn't mean husbands cannot participate in raising a child so that the mother is free to spend some time for herself. For a working mother, the three-five hours that her husband can take over caring for the child are exclusively yours.

YS: You took a break from work for seven years when you had your baby - did that affect your household finances and lifestyle? 

MH: We needed the money. But, around the time when my daughter was a year old, I began to feel that I am not there for her, nor am I "fully there” at work. So there was a dilemma. I felt she needed me at home.

That was also the time we were moving cities and there was some change in our family situation. I was earning more than my husband. We were wondering what to do, and my husband said he would give up his job and stay home. When you are given a choice like that, you are free to take a decision, which is fair.

I, though, realised that my daughter wanted me rather than her father. That is when I thought of taking a break.

When you go into these things with your eyes open, you make a conscious choice. I think you can turn that period when you aren't working into something extremely productive. You learn more, read more, and you can do different things with your life. In a certain way, that decision got me out of the 'mental rat race'. I began to look at work very differently.

The baby-break made me who I became later. When you step back, you re-assess. I studied finance. I got deeper and deeper into personal finance. I began looking for odd jobs. I trained people in the financial sector. You do a bunch of things to earn a little more money, because when you go from a two income household to one, it’s not easy.

When my daughter was around seven-and-a-half years old, and going to school, she actually told me, ‘All mothers go to work, get me a didi, and go to work.' Soon after, I started work.

On Monday read: Is raising a baby in India expensive? 

Also read: Do Indian women deal with money differently? Monika Halan talks finances.