Maternity Benefit Amendment Act (2017): A ‘Humble Gift’ Causing Motherhood Penalty in India

The twin goals of addressing gender inequality and improving child development has manifested itself in the proliferation of maternity leave policies across the world. While maternity leave has become a standard entitlement in several countries, variations exist in policy design and their gendered outcomes, suggesting that policies are influenced by factors such as cultural and social norms. In 2017, the Government of India enacted the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act to extend paid maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks and to provide other non-monetary child benefits. The Government described it as a ‘humble gift’ to women, a day after the world celebrated International Women’s Day. While it has been recognised on some levels that certain policies entrench gender inequality, an area that remains unexplored is how enduring assumptions rooted in the traditional gendered division of domestic and non-domestic labour have underpinned maternity support, particularly in the context of the Global South. This piece intends to engage with this gap by exploring how maternity policy was created in India and how the Government has conceptualised gender. Challenges include the narrow construction of women and family, the limited coverage of the policy to biological mothers and formal workers, and the impact of employers’ economic decisions such as discriminatory recruiting practices against women in response to higher leave costs.