According to Global Gender Gap Report 2018, India ranks one of the worst in Gender wage disparity

Global Gender Gap Report is published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). India has been ranked
108th out of 149 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2018, the same as 2017. The report
benchmarks countries on their progress towards gender parity on a scale from 0 (disparity) to 1
(parity) across four key pillars- economic participation and opportunity (42%), educational
attainment (4.4%), health and survival (4.6%), and political empowerment (77%).
India in report
 India has been ranked at 108.
 India has slightly improved in WEF’s wage equality for similar work indicator, where it stood at
72nd place. The country has also closed its tertiary education enrolment gap for the first time in
2018 and has managed to keep its primary and secondary gaps closed for the third year running.
 It ranks 142nd out of 149 countries in the economic opportunity and participation sub index.
 India continues to rank third-lowest in the world on health and survival, remaining the world’s
least-improved country on this sub index over the past decade.
 India has the second-largest artificial intelligence (AI) workforce but one of the largest AI gender
gaps, with only 22% of roles filled by women.
 Women on an average are paid 34% less than similarly qualified male workers for performing
same tasks.
Reasons for Persistent Gender Gap
 Lack of quality jobs and wage disparity are key reasons behind inequality in the Indian labour
market.
 The burden of unpaid care work and the continuing prevalence of other regressive social norms
are also factors behind women’s low participation in the workforce.
 Primary responsibility of taking care of family and bringing up the child is still on the women.
 Now-a-days, quiet a number of women can be seen in ‘Arts’ Field but even the same number is
missing in ‘Science’ field. The reason is that girls are not conditioned for mathematics, physics
and chemistry.
 The women are mostly deemed fit for “pink collar jobs” only, such as teachers, nurses,
receptionist, baby sitter, lecturer etc. which have been stereotyped for women. This denies
them opportunities in other fields.
 Many women due to family pressures have to retreat from work force.
 Companies are interested in hiring more number of young women because it has been generally
seen that the work and the family environment, marriage and maternity generally forces a
married woman for resignation.
 Women receive lower amount of wages compared to men for the same work.
Solution

Apart from providing education to women, they need to be provided with all kinds
of opportunities and skills without any discrimination or stereotyping.
 The health and safety of women should be given priority to enable them to participate in public
life efficiently.
 The disparity in pay structure for women for same work and skill set needs to be closed at all
levels.
 Women should be given the right to decide the size of their family i.e. number of and spacing
between children. Further, all women need to be made aware about contraception.
 Support from the society, family and corporate is required to create a soothing working
environment for a woman.
 A working couple needs to spend part of their income on domestic arrangements; otherwise the
woman will get marginalized.
 The family of a woman needs to understand that she is pursuing a particular job as her passion,
not just to earn some income.
 Also, life of the child needs to be planned by couple in advance so that s/he does not suffer.
 Now-a-days, companies do not want to lose their efficient employees. They are generally ready
to provide much necessary break (maternity leave) to women.
 Countries need to work with society and its adolescent population to identify gaps which are
limiting women’s access in any field and should try to bridge those gaps.
 Evidence shows that women make better decisions. Therefore, their participation in top decision
making bodies at corporate as well as at democratic level needs to be boosted.
 Change in the mindset is required to bridge the gaps in gender equality. Apart from family and
workplace support, use of technology is required to maintain work-life balance.
Conclusion
According to Article 39(d) under DPSP, the state shall, in particular, direct the policy towards
securing that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women. The economies that will
succeed in the fourth industrial revolution will be those that are best able to harness all their
available talent.
So proactive measures that support gender parity and social inclusion and would address historical
imbalances must be taken.