Gender pay gap in India

organized sector, where the wages are usually lower.[6]

Since it is estimated that about 94% of working women
participate in the unorganized labor sector, this further
contributes to the existing pay gap.[6]

Gender pay gap in India refers to the dierence in earnings between women and men in the paid employment
and labor market.[1] For the year 2013, the gender pay
gap in India was estimated to be 24.81%.[2] A report by
the World Economic Forum highlights that in the corporate sector in India, a woman is paid only one-third of
what a man in the same position is paid.[3] Further, while
analyzing the level of female participation in the economy, this report slots India as one of the bottom 10 countries on its list. Thus, in addition to unequal pay, there is
also unequal representation, because while women constitute almost half the Indian population (about 48% of
the total), their representation in the work force amounts
to only about one-fourth of the total.[4]

1.2 Cultural barriers

While social and cultural norms vary from state to state
within India, one commonality that has been observed is
the exclusion of women from the paid labor market and
status based segregation of labor.[8] Ironically, women
from higher castes faced more diculty when they tried
to obtain paid work, even if their survival depended on
it.[8]:45 In interviews conducted with widows from rural
North India, they stated that if attempts were made to
seek gainful employment outside their homes, they would
be forced to give up their property rights and made to
leave the villages they live in, indicating that paid work
was not a feasible option even to sustain themselves due
to the existing social norms.[8]:49 Because childcare is
viewed primarily as a womans job, women often take
part-time jobs or take time o during their careers to
care for their families. When women return to work after
a break, they are paid lower wages than their male colleagues. Women employed full-time ordinarily already
earned 34% less than men, but when compared to parttime working women, the pay gap further increased as
they earned almost 42% less than men.[11]:13 Additionally, even if women do not have children, it has been observed that they still face pay discrimination as they are
viewed as potential mothers, who may require a break
from work in the near future.[11]

History and contributing factors

The female labor participation rate in India from 1901

to 1951 was between 28 and 34 percent, which is higher
than the level of participation observed in 1990.[5] This
rate also varies from state to state. Regions in northern
India (which have been observed to be more patriarchal)
have lower participation rates for women than the states in
southern India, where women have more freedom to participate in the formal economy.[5] SEWA (the Self Employed Womens Association) recently found that the average wage of women workers was Rs. 1815 while the
average wage for men was Rs. 3842. Additionally, it
was observed that in many situations the wages for women
workers was below the minimum wage requirement.[6]
Some of the main factors that contribute to the existing
gender pay gap in India are:

1.3 Education and training

1.1

Occupational segregation

The literacy rate for women in India is far lower than

the rate for men, and it has been observed that many
girls drop out of school and fail to fully complete their
education.[10]:76 Investment in education and training has
also been strongly in favor of men as they are brought up
with the expectation of being bread earners, and hence
this investment is considered necessary for their success,
while women are instead viewed as future homemakers for whom education may not be as essential.[12]:325
In the skilled labor market, it has also been observed that
male workers are more likely to undergo longer periods of
skills training, as women are often responsible for childcare and domestic unpaid work and hence do not put in
the same number of hours as men.[6]

The rate of female participation in the paid labor market

is generally low, and is primarily concentrated in rural areas in the agricultural sector.[7] In rural north India, it has
been observed that labor is divided sharply on the basis
of gender. Certain activities in agriculture have been assigned specically to women, like drying and storing the
grain, while other tasks like plowing and harvesting are
only performed by men.[8][9] Female labor participation
in India has been observed to be higher in sectors involving personal services and care work, and is also higher
in informal sectors, especially in agriculture.[10] Womens
participation is also higher in light industries and the un1

1.4

3 STATISTICS

Unpaid work

According to the Human Development Report 1995,

women spend about two-thirds of their working time on
unpaid work, while men spend only one-fourth of their
time towards unpaid labor.[13] It has been estimated in India that women on average work twenty-one more hours
than men during each week.[13] Agriculture currently accounts for over two-thirds of the current employment in
India, but most of the work women contribute to this sector is not accounted for or ocially documented.[10]

2
2.1

Legislative protections
International obligations

India has been a permanent member of the ILO Governing Body from 1922. In September 1958, India ratied
the C100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No.
100), which addressed the issue of equal pay between
men and women for work of equal value.[14] This convention requires all member states to direct their national
laws and policies towards guaranteeing equal remuneration to all workers, regardless of gender. In an attempt to
ensure compliance with this convention and in response
to the Report by the Committee on status of women in
India, the government enacted the Equal Remuneration
Act.[15]

2.2

Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

In 1976, the Equal Remuneration Act was passed with the

aim of providing equal remuneration to men and women
workers and to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender in all matters relating to employment and employment
opportunities. This legislation not only provides women
with a right to demand equal pay, but any inequality with
respect to recruitment processes, job training, promotions, and transfers within the organization can also be
challenged under this Act.[16] However, its scope does not
extend to situations where: (i) a woman is attempting to
comply with the requirements of laws giving women special treatment; and (ii) a woman is being accorded special treatment on account of the birth of a child, or the
terms and conditions relating to retirement, marriage or
death.[17] Companies and individual employers can both
be held accountable to maintain the standards prescribed
under this Act.[18] In various cases, the Supreme Court of
India has also held that discrimination on the basis of gender only arises when men and women perform the same
work or work of a similar nature. However, it claried
that a exible approach is required to be taken while deciding which kinds of work may be similar by considering
the duties actually performed as a part of the job, and not
the duties potentially capable of being performed.[19]

2.3 Constitutional protections

As part of its Directive Principles of State Policy, the
Constitution of India through Article 39 envisages that
all states ideally direct their policy towards securing equal
pay for equal work for both men and women, and also ensuring that men and women have the right to an adequate
means of livelihood. While these Directive Principles are
not enforceable by any court of law, they are crucial to
the governance of the country and a state is duty bound
to consider them while enacting laws.[20]
While equal pay for equal work is not expressly a constitutional right, it has been read into the Constitution
through the interpretation of Articles 14, 15 and 16
which guarantee equality before the law, protection
against discrimination and equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.[20][21] The Supreme Court of
India has also declared this to be a constitutional goal,
available to every individual and capable of being attained
through the enforcement of their fundamental rights set
out in Articles 14 through 16.[22] In a popular Supreme
Court decision, the conditions of employment of the airhostesses of Air India was challenged. The terms of employment required the mandatory retirement of females:
(i) upon attaining the age of 33; (ii) if they were married within four years of service; or (iii) upon their rst
pregnancy. The court however struck down these provisions and held them to be arbitrary and discriminatory as
it violated Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution.[23]

2.4 Ancillary legislation

While legislation like the Maternity Benet Act, 1961
and the Factories Act, 1948 do not directly address the
issue of equal pay for equal work, they provide certain
additional benets a woman can claim. The Maternity
Benet Act applies to all establishments with more than
ten employees.[24] However, in states where the Employees State Insurance Act applies, employers no longer
have any liability under the Maternity Benet Act.[25] Under this Act, a pregnant woman worker is entitled to 12
weeks of fully paid maternity leave, and six weeks in case
of miscarriage or termination of pregnancy.[26] Pregnant
women also have the right to not perform physically arduous work, which may aect their pregnancy, and no deductions can be made from their wages because of this.[27]
Additionally, as per the Factories Act, employers are required to provide childcare for children under 6 years old
at all worksites that employ over 30 women.[28]

3 Statistics

3.1

By state

6 Notes

The gender pay gap varies across Indian states, and is the
highest in the following states:[2]

[1] Dutta, Puja (2005). Accounting for Wage Inequality in

India (PDF). The Indian Journal of Labour Economics.

Uttarakhand on the other hand is the state with the lowest percentage of gender pay gap, with females earning
only 9% less than men. Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are
also states with a lower gender pay gap, following with
10% and 15%, respectively.[2]

[2] Gender Pay Gap in the Formal Sector: 2006 2013(September, 2013)". Wage Indicator Data Report.

3.2

By education

The gender pay gap in India increases with an increase

in educational qualications. While comparing men and
women who had only completed high-school level education, it was observed that women earned 10.34% less
than men. Women who had gone to college for four to
ve years or who had received advanced degrees earned
around 30% less than their male counterparts. With an
increase in the level of education, where women had obtained a Masters degree of a Ph.D equivalent, it was observed that the gender pay gap ranged between 44% to
46%.

Impact

Research suggests that when countries are able to raise

the female labor participation rate, this stands to benet
the entire economy.[7] Apart from potential GDP growth,
equal employment opportunities for women could also
result in increased growth and protability in the private sector.[29] In countries where the population is aging quickly, an increase in the female labor participation
rate would help oset the negative eects of a declining
workforce.[7] It is also important to note that women in
India perform 9.8 times the amount of labor in the unpaid sector either through household duties or care work.
If this work was measured and valued, it was estimated
by McKinsey that it would contribute 0.3 trillion dollars
to Indias total economic output.[30]

See also
Equal pay for equal work
Gender discrimination in India
Gender inequality in India
Gender pay gap
Indian labor law
Labor in India
Social issues in India
Women in India

[3] The Corporate Gender Gap Report, 2010 (PDF). World

Economic Forum,.
[4] Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) Planning Commission, Government of India.
[5] Esteve-Volart, Berta (2004). Gender Discrimination
and Growth: Theory and Evidence from India (January,
2004)" (PDF). London School of Economics.
[6] Anupam Manuhaar, Shayan Javeed (April 2013).
Women and Wage Discrimination in India: A Critical
Analysis (PDF). International Journal of Humanities
and Social Science Invention. 2 (4): 612.
[7] Sta Discussion Note, IMF (September 2013). Women,
Work, and the Economy: Macroeconomic Gains from
Gender Equity (PDF). International Monetary Fund.
[8] Martha C. Nussbaum, Jonathan Glover, Martha Chen
(1995). Women, Culture, and Development: A Study
of Human Capabilities. Clarendon Press.
[9] Dewan, Sabina (2014). Closing the Gender wage gap in
Indian Agriculture (PDF). JustJobs Network.
[10] Anil Kumar Mishra, Tauqu Ahamad, Jitendra Kumar
Pandey, (December 2014). The Status of Women Workers in the Unorganized Sector (PDF). Newman International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, Volume 1, Issue 12. pp. 7279.
[11] Leeja Anand, Biju Varkkey, Rupa Korde, (September
2012). Gender Pay Gap in the Formal Sector: Preliminary Evidence from Paycheck India Data. WageIndicator Data Report.
[12] Rustagi, Preet (2005). Understanding Gender Inequalities in Wages and Incomes in India (PDF). The Indian
Journal of Labour Economics, Vol. 48, No. 2.
[13] The Invisible Heart Care and the Global Economy
(PDF).
[14] C100 - Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No.
100), Article 1.
[15] Equal Pay for Equal Work in India - A Socio-legal Imperative (PDF).
[16] Section 4 and 5, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (PDF).
Archived from the original (PDF) on April 21, 2015.
[17] Section 15, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (PDF).
Archived from the original (PDF) on April 21, 2015.
[18] Section 11, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (PDF).
Archived from the original (PDF) on April 21, 2015.
[19] Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. Ltd. v. Audrey D' Costa
& Another. (1987) 2 SCC 469.

[20] Devi, Kovuru (January 1, 2000). Womens Equality in India: A Myth Or Reality?. pp. 4950. ISBN 81-7141-5636.
[21] The Constitution of India, Articles 14 - 16 (PDF).
[22] Union of India v. Dineshan K.K.,. (2008) 1 SCC 586.
[23] Air India vs. Nargesh Mirza,. AIR 1981 SC 1829.
[24] Maternity Benet Act, 1961 (Act No. 53 of 1961), Section 2 (PDF).
[25] Papola, T.S. An Assessment of the Labour Statistics System in India, 2014 (PDF). International Labour Organization.
[26] The Maternity Benet Act, 1961 (Act No. 53 of 1961),
Section 4 and 6 (PDF).
[27] The Maternity Benet Act, 1961 (Act No. 53 of 1961),
Sections 4 and 13 (PDF).
[28] The Factories Act, 1948 (Act No. 63 of 1948), Section
48.
[29] Investing in Womens Employment (PDF). International
Finance Corporation, World Bank Group. 2013.
[30] The Power of Parity: Advancing Womens Equality in
India. McKinsey Global Institute. November 2015.

6 NOTES

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