India’s Gender Gap Crisis: Ranked 131st in 2025

India’s Gender Gap Crisis

Syllabus

GS 2: Issues related to women

Why in the News?

Recently, the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 ranked India 131 out of 148 countries in the gender gap index, highlighting serious inequality in women’s health, economic participation, and care infrastructure despite India’s overall growth and India’s progress in some areas.

Introduction

• India stands as a global leader in technology, youth population, and economic growth.
• However, the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 paints a stark contrast.
• Despite advancements, India ranks poorly on the gender gap index, particularly in health and economic inclusion.
• Gender inequality remains a major roadblock to sustainable development goals and national progress, deeply rooted in traditional gender roles and social norms.
• The report also highlights persistent gender pay gaps across various sectors of the economy.

India’s Gender Equality Report Card

• World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (2025) ranks India at 131 out of 148 countries.
• India scores poorly in two key categories: economic participation and health and survival.
• These are not just statistics but signals of deep structural inequalities.

Skewed Health Outcomes

• Despite progress towards educational parity, women’s health and autonomy remain poor.
• India’s sex ratio at birth remains skewed, reflecting deep-rooted son preference.
• Healthy life expectancy for women is now lower than men, indicating lack of access to timely healthcare and public services.
• NFHS-5 reports that 57% of Indian women (ages 15-49) are anaemic.
• This impacts their ability to work, learn, or carry pregnancies safely.

Key Reasons for Poor Health Indicators

• Chronic neglect of reproductive health and preventive care.
• Poor nutrition among rural and low-income women.
• Inadequate primary healthcare infrastructure.
• High maternal mortality rate compared to global standards.
• Limited awareness and access to reproductive rights.

Economic Participation and Opportunity

• India ranks 143rd in economic participation and opportunity for women.
• Women earn less than one-third of what men earn, highlighting significant gender pay gaps and income inequality.
• Labour force participation by women remains extremely low, with many engaged in informal employment and vulnerable work conditions.
• As per the McKinsey Global Institute, closing gender gaps could have added $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025.
• India has missed this target, highlighting the urgency for corrective measures to improve financial inclusion and economic opportunities for women.

Barriers to Women’s Economic Inclusion

• High burden of unpaid care work.
• Poor representation in leadership and decision-making roles, including ministerial representation.
• Gender bias in hiring, promotions, and workplace policies.
• Lack of access to childcare services and elder care services.
• Persistent gender pay gap across sectors.
• Limited opportunities for female entrepreneurship.
• Inadequate maternity leave and paternity leave policies.

Invisible Labour: Unpaid Care Work

• Indian women perform 7 times more unpaid domestic work than men, including domestic workers.
• This work is not included in national economic accounting.
• It restricts women’s time, agency, and opportunity to work for income.
• Time use surveys are crucial to understand and address this issue.

Needed Interventions

• Invest in care infrastructure: childcare centres, elder care, maternity support.
• Recognize and account for unpaid care work in economic and policy planning.
• Implement comprehensive time use surveys to guide policy.
• Adopt gender budgeting at all government levels.
• Promote work-life balance through supportive policies.
• Focus on capacity building and awareness raising initiatives.
• Improve policy implementation to ensure effective outcomes.
• Address the gender pay gap through targeted policies and enforcement.

Global Examples

• Countries like Uruguay and South Korea have started integrating care economies into development plans with positive results.
• Nordic countries have succeeded through equal parenting leave, free childcare, and inclusive budgeting.
• These nations prioritize early childhood education and primary education to address gender gaps from an early age, providing role models for girls.

Demographic Shift: Women and Ageing

• India is facing a demographic shift: senior citizens will form 20% of the population by 2050.
• A majority of this elderly population will be women, especially widows.
• Combined with low fertility rates (below replacement level), India’s working-age population is shrinking.

Implications

• Economic growth will suffer if women remain out of the workforce.
• Dependency ratio will increase, burdening younger earners.
• Fiscal stability will be at risk.

Solution

• Create integrated policies connecting healthcare, social protection, and labour force participation.
• Ensure elderly women have financial and social support systems.
• Improve social insurance mechanisms for women across all age groups.
• Promote decent work opportunities for women across sectors, addressing informal employment and vulnerable employment conditions.
• Implement strategies to reduce gender pay gaps and promote equal pay for equal work.

Lack of Women in Decision-Making Roles

• Women are underrepresented in policy-making spaces: legislatures, boardrooms, judiciary, and administration.
• This results in gender-blind policies that fail to meet women’s actual needs.
• Example: Budget committees and economic reforms rarely consider the gender impact of decisions.
• Increasing women in leadership and political empowerment, including ministerial representation, is crucial for balanced policy-making.

A Call for Real Investment

• India has slogans and frameworks, but lacks real investment in women.

Priority Areas for Investment

• Public health systems focusing on women’s needs.
• Care infrastructure for children and elderly, including accessible childcare services.
• Policy reforms that see women as economic contributors, not just beneficiaries.
• Vocational training programs tailored for women’s empowerment.
• Infrastructure investment to support women’s participation in the workforce.

Specific Actions Required

• Increase healthcare spending focused on maternal and reproductive health.
• Enforce workplace equality measures to address the gender pay gap.
• Set targets for women’s inclusion in leadership roles.
• Expand educational and skilling programmes tailored for women to achieve educational parity.
• Improve water and sanitation facilities to reduce women’s unpaid work burden.
• Conduct thorough gender analysis for all policy interventions.
• Implement and regularly update time use surveys to inform policy decisions.

From Slogans to Solutions

• India does not lack frameworks — it has schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ujjwala Yojana, and Maternity Benefit Programme.
• However, these schemes often suffer from underfunding, poor implementation, and lack of accountability.
• Gender equality must be treated as a national development mission.
• Addressing implementation gaps and providing technical support is crucial for success.

Reframing the Narrative

• Gender equality is not just about rights it is about economic necessity.
• Excluding women hurts GDP growth, fiscal stability, and social progress.
• Empowering women enhances productivity, innovation, and resilience of the entire nation.

Road Ahead: Immediate Reforms

• Introduce gender-responsive budgeting at national and state levels.
• Make time use surveys a mandatory part of data collection.
• Create care economy roadmaps for each state.
• Focus on rural women: health, education, digital access.
• Enforce anti-discrimination laws in employment to address the gender pay gap.
• Improve representation of women in all public offices, including ministerial representation.
• Encourage private sector compliance with diversity and inclusion norms.
• Address gender stereotypes through education and awareness campaigns.
• Strengthen legal frameworks to protect women’s rights and promote equality.
• Invest in tertiary education and vocational training for women to achieve educational parity.

Conclusion

India must shift from symbolic measures to systemic change. Gender equality is key to sustaining growth, improving public health, and building an inclusive economy. Ignoring women means risking India’s social and economic future. Achieving gender parity is crucial for meeting sustainable development goals and ensuring India’s long-term prosperity. By focusing on educational attainment, economic participation, and political empowerment, India can significantly reduce its time to parity and create a more equitable society for all. Comprehensive time use surveys can provide valuable insights to guide policy decisions and address the persistent gender pay gaps across various sectors of the economy.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Practice Question

Examine the major structural barriers to achieving gender equality in India as highlighted in the Global Gender Gap Report 2025. Discuss the potential impact of addressing these barriers on India’s economic growth and social development.