Why in news?
The Global Gender Gap Report 2025 placed India at 131st out of 148 nations. Despite improvements in women’s education and political participation, the country continues to lag on economic participation and health outcomes, pushing policy makers to rethink gender equality.
Context
- Report overview: The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report tracks parity across four dimensions—economic participation, educational attainment, health & survival and political empowerment. The world has closed only about 68.8 % of its gender gap.
- India’s ranking: The country slipped to 131st place with especially low scores in economic participation (rank 143) and health & survival. Kerala ranks best within India, while large disparities persist across many states.
Key issues driving the gender gap
- Low labour-force participation: Less than one‑quarter of Indian women participate in paid work. Most of women’s work remains unpaid domestic or care work, which continues to be unrecognised in GDP calculations.
- Unpaid care burden: On average, women undertake seven times more household and care work than men, leaving little time for paid employment or skill up‑gradation.
- Health concerns: The female sex ratio is skewed (about 929 females per 1,000 males) and anaemia affects roughly 57 % of women aged 15–49, undermining productivity and well‑being.
- Representation deficit: Women remain under‑represented in corporate boards, the judiciary and legislatures. Only around one‑tenth of MPs in the Lok Sabha are women, and female representation in senior judiciary posts is negligible.
Economic and social consequences
- Loss of demographic dividend: Under‑utilisation of half the workforce hampers GDP growth; McKinsey estimates that closing gender gaps could add US $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025.
- Poverty trap: Gender inequality reduces women’s bargaining power within households and limits access to health, education and credit, thereby perpetuating inter‑generational poverty.
- Widening inequalities: Concentration of wealth and male‑dominated leadership in business and politics create a feedback loop that resists redistributive policies.
Way forward
- Invest in women’s health and nutrition: Expand public health programmes such as the Anaemia Mukt Bharat initiative, ensure widespread iron–folic acid supplementation and improve maternal care.
- Formalise the care economy: Develop creches, elder‑care services and parental leave to redistribute the unpaid care burden and enable women to take up paid work.
- Enhance labour inclusion: Provide skill training, enforce equal pay legislation, encourage flexible work arrangements and incentivise employers to hire women through tax benefits.
- Gender budgeting and time‑use surveys: Governments should allocate budgetary resources based on gender impact and conduct regular time‑use surveys to capture unpaid labour.
- Social norm change: Launch mass‑media campaigns to challenge stereotypes, encourage male participation in care work and build role models of successful women.