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March 13, 2025Accelerating Gender Equality: Bridging the Economic Gap for Women in India
This year’s UN theme for the International Women’s Day—”Accelerate Action”—is a stark reminder to reflect on the work left to be done, and the barriers to be tackled to attain gender equality.
The insights presented by the Global Gender Gap Index 2024 which evaluates women’s global progress has released the verdict—if followed through as per the current rate, gender equality wouldn’t be realised until the year 2158. This bleak future would actualize almost five generations after the target date of 2030 as set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we cherish women’s contributions to socio-economic development across the globe, the day must also remind us that celebration sans accelerated action is like the pursuit of a pie in the sky. Gender parity demands urgent, sustained, and accelerated interventions.
Global Gender Gap Index 2024 – Where Does India Stand?
The Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), annually released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), studies various indices, of which economic participation and opportunity forms a major component. As per the report, India stands 142nd out of 146 countries in gender-gap within the index. With a gap of 41.34% between women and men, India’s performance portrays a low female labour force participation.
Though the report fails to capture the informal work that most Indian women engage in, and the unpaid care work undertaken by them, it underscores the need to uplift women’s work conditions, pay parity and general notions of their incomes to be supplementary within the household. The disparity in female participation in high-paying professions and leadership roles, which is further hindered by social norms and structural barriers, is reflected in the country’s 135th position within the estimated earned income subindex.
Legal Barriers to Women’s Economic Progress
As highlighted by the Women, Business and Law Index 2.0, India’s higher ranking in legal framework and lower ranking in supportive framework indicates that though we have successfully drafted expansive laws for women, they fail to be implemented in full force on ground. Though India’s Equal Remunerations Act mandates employers to pay equal wages for equal work despite gender differences, the ground reality suggests that the law hasn’t been translated from paper to practice.
This challenge is further burdened in the country, considering various state laws that prohibit or limit women’s entry into the workforce of certain industries, particularly those falling under the ambit of the excise and factories. The differences in retirement ages for women and men exacerbate the disparities in pension-related benefits. Though government schemes profess to provide security-free credits to women across the board, it is not the case if the business requirements necessitate a large sum.
Moving Forward – What Needs to Change?
An analysis of India’s Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-24 suggests that women’s labour force participation continues to remain low, especially within urban areas. There is a slight improvement in the participation of women within rural areas which could be attributed to the increased number of schemes that assist women’s self-help groups (SHGs). However it is to be noted that such schemes fail to assist women aiming to transition into big industries, and are restricted to generating an income that remains a supplementary income to their household.
Though urban centres are regions with the highest concentration of educational institutions, college graduates are unable to become employed at quality work spaces, as pointed out by the unemployment rates of urban women of the 15-29 years age category. Urban women’s worker population ratio being the lowest, indicates several complex barriers that prevent them from entering into the workforce.
Economic empowerment has proven to reduce various parameters of the gender gap. Though women in India have come a long way, collective action is required to ensure that the gap is entirely bridged. Let this Women’s Day be a reminder for us to accelerate our pursuits in taking actions that establish gender justice, and thus advance progress for all.
Eliza Jo Varghese is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi.
Views expressed by the authors are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.
