Disparity On Rise? Only 21% Money In Bank Accounts Belongs To Women

A National Statistics Office report exposed a large disparity in women's financial autonomy. The study titled 'Men and Women' reported that only a fifth of the total amount deposited in banks across the country belongs to women. The data as of March 2023 shows that the share of accounts belonging to women stood at 36.4% (917.7 million) of the total 2.52 billion individual accounts. The share of total money in the accounts belonging to women stood at 20.86% (₹39 trillion) of the total ₹187 trillion.

Report Reveals Gender Disparity In Banking

The Men and Women 2023 report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation observes gender equality as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. It studies the female-to-male ratio in various sectors including population, economy, health, education, decision-making, etc.

In the financial autonomy category, the report found a vast disparity in the active participation of women in banking. Apart from the gender gap in owning individual accounts and depositing money, the study also found an imbalance in the urban-rural baking landscape among women.

In metropolitan areas, only 16.5% of deposited money (₹1.9 trillion) was found to be owned by female individual account holders. In rural areas, the data was slightly more promising, with 30% (₹5.91 trillion) of deposited money belonging to women. The report attributes this to Jan Dhan accounts.

Women In Corporate

The NSO report also notes that only one in every four bank employees is female, as the total number of women working in banks stood at 441,000 in comparison to 1.32 million men. The study also underscores the disparity in opportunities for women in corporate decision-making.

The study notes that only 34,879 women held senior management positions in 2023 as compared to 186,000 men. A total of 762,000 women were part of the board of directors compared to 1.9 million men. In other managerial positions, there were 738,000 women as compared to 1.86 million men.

On the upside, the opportunities for women in senior managerial positions have seen an uptick from 23,685 in 2017 to 34,879 in 2023. However, the corresponding increase for men in senior positions--  from 150,300 to 186,900--  has been more in terms of percentage.