[Assignment- First Two Year Batch-MEd. 2015-17
- Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram]
Gender wage gap
The gender wage gap most severely affects women of colour, and
the wage gap exists within all racial and ethnic groups
See The Top
10 Facts About the Gender Wage Gap
by Kaitlin
Holmes and Danielle
Corley
Gender pay gap in India refers
to the difference in earnings between women and men in the paid employment and
labour market. For the year 2013, the
gender pay gap in India was estimated to be 24.81%. 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. 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.
The female labour 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. 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. SEWA (the Self Employed
Women’s 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
According to Monster Salary
Index, India suffers from huge gender pay gap. Its main causes and remedies
are:
The
Constitution of India provides for 'Equal
Pay for Equal Work' under Art.39
(d) [DPSP].Despite this the pay-gap is on the rise as revealed by the recent Monster Salary Index. The gap in the
IT is as mug.ch as 34% (27% last year).
Causes
a) Societal: 1.due to patriarchal mindset women are not considered as equal as men.
a) Societal: 1.due to patriarchal mindset women are not considered as equal as men.
2. The competency of women are less-valued than men even in professionals requiring similar skills, hard works, etc. E.g. actress in the Film Industry is paid less than male actors.
3. Division of labour on the basis of gender. Women are supposed to take household chores thereby leave the job in the middle to fulfill their gender-duty.
4. Marital status- for single women, the gender-pay gap is 27% and for married and divorced the gap is over 40%.
b) Biological distinction between male and female such as women's pregnancy, menstrual cycle, etc. also contributes to the cause.
c)Administrative: Lack of strict implementation of policy that addresses gender-pay gap such as the Minimum Wages Act, the Factories Act, etc.
d)Lack of awareness among women about their constitutional and legal rights.
Remedies
a)Strict implementation of laws such as The Factories Act, the Minimum Wages Act, etc.
b)Increasing awareness campaigns among women through street plays, folk songs, mass media, etc.
c)Economic empowerment through skilled-training, education, vocational training, etc to change patriarchal mindset.
d) Working women must be provided all facilities such as crèches at work places.
These steps need to be taken strictly as it is in the societal and national interest and in accordance with ideals of the JUSTICE and EQUALITY as enshrined in our preamble.
Submitted by
Mr. Prasasth MR.
No comments:
Post a Comment