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Women Graduates Earn 24% Less Than Male Counterparts: Reports

Nimisha Bansal

06 Jun 2018 08:44 IST

New Update

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) recently brought out a report that highlights the increasing gender wage pay gap in the country. The report contains data on average daily wages and salaries for men and women aged 15-59 years, arranged by industry and type of work. It shockingly revealed that a graduate woman earns nearly about 24% less than their male counterparts in India.

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Key Takeaways from the report

In urban areas, a woman with a graduate degree gets paid Rs 690.68 per day in the transport and storage sector while a man gets 30 percent more at Rs 902.45.
In agriculture, an illiterate woman worker in rural India receives Rs 88.2 per day while an illiterate man receives Rs 128.52, which is 45 percent more.
A graduate woman earns 5.8 times more than an illiterate woman in rural areas while graduate men earn 3.6 times more than illiterate men.
Despite equal education, the gap remains significant. Consequently, a graduate woman is paid Rs 609 on average across sectors while a man with a graduate or higher degree will earn Rs 805.
In some sectors, women get paid more as compared to men. However, the margin remains small. For instance, in the construction sector in rural areas, women (irrespective of the level of education) are paid Rs 322 on average per day while men are paid Rs 279.15, which is Rs 43 or 13 percent less.
In urban areas, in the transport and storage sector, women are paid Rs 455 on average per day, irrespective of the level of education, while men are paid Rs 443 per day – Rs 12 or 2.7 percent less.

Revelations

The report reveals that despite continued efforts, gender inequality in the workplace remains a concurrent issue. Consequently, India ranks 108th among 144 countries on gender equality rankings. These rankings were created by the World Economic Forum for its Global Gender Gap report of 2017. Accordingly, India is ranked behind Bangladesh (at 47) and China (at 100).

A recent World Bank study reported that without the gender pay gap, the world economy would benefit by a whopping $160 trillion. In India specifically, the situation needs to be tackled efficiently to prevent the growing gap from damaging our economy.