Connecting The Dots: Gender Pay Gap In India Is Narrowing But How Long For An Equal Working Space?

Even though there has been a rise in the number of women joining the workforce in the last few years, we haven't been able to fix the pay gaps. Women continue to be paid less for their work and battle doesn't seem easy.

gender age gap india

It's 2023 and the gender pay gap continues to be a grave issue in the nation. In simple terms, the gender pay gap refers to the difference between the earnings of men and women in the workforce. Interestingly, India has made progress over the years but disparity continues to exist. How long for an equal and inclusive workspace, we ask?

This Independence Day, as we shed light on women issues like discrimination, injustice, and inequality at HerZindagi with our campaign Azaad Bharat, Azaad Naari, we begin with the women wage gap which just doesn't seem to close.

The Gender Pay Gap Is Narrowing

World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2022 cites that India's global gender gap score which measures gender equality stands at 0.629. The score makes India reach its seventh-best score in the last 16 years. The report further highlights that economic opportunities for women have improved overall. There is an increase in the share of women in positions like legislators, senior officials, technical workers, and managers. Further, the gender pay gap has narrowed.

Nothing much has changed for women in the education and health sectors. There has been a decrease in women's role in politics since fewer women have been in the sphere in the last 50 years.

According to OXFAM India Discrimination Report 2022, the labour force participation rate for women in India was 25.1 percent between 2020-21. As compared to 2004-05, the numbers showed a drastic decline from 42.7 percent.

The report also shed light on the number of individuals aged 15 and above who were regular salaried employees or self-employed. Men made the 60% and women only 19%. The data highlighted the disparities in employment opportunities between genders.

The data also revealed the average salary of men and women in the country. While the average earning for men stood at ₹19779, for women, it was ₹15578.

Even though the gap has shrunk as compared to previous years, we still have a long way to go to close gender pay and opportunity gaps in the country. What tangles the issue of the gender pay gap in India are the many factors contributing to it, social, economic, and cultural.

Female Dominated Occupations Just A Few

Spheres like teaching, nursing, and administrative services are traditionally dominated by women and unfortunately, these fields have low-paying wages.

Family Responsibilities

Family responsibilities and maternity leaves are other obstacles in the way of working women and their long-term career dream. These barriers also make a lot of employers believe that women are less committed and might end up quitting earlier than expected.

women jobs india

For women, things worsened during the pandemic. There was a drastic loss of working hours for women during COVID-19. The reportunderlined the working hours lost globally between 2020-2022, the years the pandemic took over the globe. While the world was fighting the pandemic, women were fighting an altogether different battle. Women's state was much worse than men's due to employment losses during this time. COVID-19 was unlike any other recession with female workers being more affected than men. Working hours for women also declined by 18.1% in Q2 of 2020, overall showcasing a higher loss of working hours than men globally.

Don't Miss: 8 Women Share The Biggest Challenges They Face In The Workplace

During the pandemic, women were excessively affected by job losses and more than one reason contributed to it, caregiving responsibilities, layoffs, remote work challenges, reduced access to support services, and lack of flexibility to name a few.

women pay gap india

Data - World Economic Forum

Lack Of Education And Skills

For the longest time, girls and women in the country have had unequal access to education and skill development. Gender bias, household responsibilities, early marriage, financial constraints, safety concerns, and limited access to quality education are some factors contributing to it. This education and skill gap further makes another barrier for women not making it to higher-paying jobs.

Don't Miss: 6 Ways Women Can Be Supportive Of Each Other In The Workplace

Discrimination At Workplace

workplace discrimination

Thanks to the stereotyping that exists in workplaces even today, women fail to get to the position and pay package they deserve. 'Women lack qualities of a good leader', 'Women are overly emotional', 'Women are more committed towards their families', 'Women don't know how to fix their priorities', sadly, the stereotypes women face in the workplace daily don't seem to die down and they significantly contribute to gender pay gaps. (Only 25% Of Women Make Up The Entire Workforce In India, Claims Survey)

The narrowing gender gap presented in the World Economic Forum's report is our glimmer of hope and going forward we only long for an equal working world for women. To address the issue, policies promoting equal pay for equal work, and a supportive work environment, need to be introduced.

Unfortunately, it all roots from societal norms and biases that have existed for ages now and they need to be abolished primarily. Don't you think?

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