{"id":101339,"date":"2026-05-01T16:21:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=101339"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:21:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:51:32","slug":"women-and-men-in-india-2025-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/women-and-men-in-india-2025-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Women and Men in India 2025 Report, Key Findings, Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the 27th edition of its publication titled <\/span><b>\u201cWomen and Men in India 2025: Selected Indicators and Data\u201d <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at the National Deliberative Summit on \u201cData for Development\u201d, on 29<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> April 2026 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Key Findings of the Women and Men in India 2025 Report<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Women and Men in India 2025 Report<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provides a comprehensive, evidence-based overview of gender-related trends across population, health, education, employment, and decision-making. It compiles gender-disaggregated data from multiple ministries, departments, and organisations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Population:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>average annual exponential population growth rate <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in India follows an inverted U- shaped trajectory, implying that population growth accelerated in the decades after independence, reached its peak during the 1971\u20131981 decade, steadily declining thereafter.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The slowing growth rate signals the onset of a demographic dividend phase, which over time, may lead towards population ageing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>sex ratio<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at birth has increased at the all-India level, indicating improved survival of women and girls reaching from 904 in 2017-19 to 917 in 2021-23.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of 2023, <\/span><b>highest sex ratio<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is in northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, where women outnumber men with a sex ratio of 1085, followed by Nagaland (1007), followed by Goa (973). The worst performing are Jharkhand (899) and Bihar (900).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Health:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Total Fertility Rate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in urban areas has shown a decline between 2019 to 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/maternal-mortality-ratio\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Maternal Mortality Ratio<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has shown a steady and significant decline over the years, with the maternal mortality ratio reducing from 254 to 88 from 2004-06 to 2021-23<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Infant mortality rates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have declined consistently for both girls and boys between 2008 and 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Across rural and urban areas, the <\/span><b>mean age at marriage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for women has shown a steady increase from 2021 onwards.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Female sterilization<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> emerges as the most commonly adopted method of family planning among currently married women aged 15-49, accounting for 37.9 percent of total usage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mizoram emerges as the most affected state with respect to <\/span><b>HIV infections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for both male and female together, recording a prevalence rate of 1.02 and 0.77 respectively, whereas Kerala report the lowest prevalence, at 0.01 for males and 0.01 for females.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Tuberculosis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> cases are observed to be more prevalent among the male population compared to females.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Education:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Literacy rates <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have improved for both genders across urban and rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at Higher Education has improved from 28.5 to 30.2 for females and 28.3 to 28.9 for males between 2021-22 and 2022-23.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Gender parity <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has been achieved across all levels of school education from Primary to Higher Secondary level.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>dropout rates <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for both girls and boys have decreased from the year 2022-23 to 2024-25 under NEP Structure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of 2022-23, the <\/span><b>Mean Year of Schooling (MYS) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in formal education, in India is 8.4 for 15 years and above, while the female MYS is 7.4, making it 1.9 years lesser than male MYS.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thirty out of Thirty-six States\/Union Territories have <\/span><b>Gender Parity Index <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of 1.00 and above.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More females study Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences and Medical Sciences as compared to males. Whereas, more males study Engineering &amp; Technology, IT &amp; Computers, Management and Law as compared to females.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Participation in Economy:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rural females have seen the highest increase in <\/span><b>Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> going from 37.5 to 45.9 during the period 2022 to 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In year 2025, the <\/span><b>Worker Population Ratio (WPR)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for ages 15 and above is 76.6 for males and 38.8 for females. For both genders, the WPR is higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of 2025, there is a greater concentration of women workers in agriculture in rural areas, with nearly three-fourths (72.7 per cent) of rural female workers engaged in this sector. In contrast, in urban areas, women workers are more concentrated in manufacturing activities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/unemployment-rate-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Unemployment<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> remains most pronounced among the youth population aged 15\u201329 years, with its severity being particularly high in urban areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Average time spent in a day by males on <\/span><b>unpaid activities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has increased between 2019 and 2024, whereas average time spent in a day by female on paid activities increased in the same period.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average time spent by men on <\/span><b>unpaid domestic services <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is 88 minutes while women spent 289 minutes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Participation in Decision Making:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of 2025, women constitute 13.65 per cent of <\/span><b>Members of Parliament<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and 9.86 per cent hold ministerial portfolios.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women account for 49.75 per cent of elected <\/span><b>Panchayat representatives<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where 16 States report more than 50 per cent women\u2019s representation in <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/panchayati-raj-institutions\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Panchayati Raj Institutions<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Representation of women in PRIs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the highest in Assam (60.1%), followed by Dadar &amp; Nagar Haveli and Daman &amp; Diu (56.93%), and Chhattisgarh (56.5%)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The gender gap in percentage of Male and Female Electors <\/span><b>Voting<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has progressively narrowed, with female turnout surpassing male turnout in the 2019 and 2024 General Election.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of the 1,122 approved <\/span><b>judicial positions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, only 118 are held by women, accounting for just 14.30% of the judiciary. In the Supreme Court, women constitute merely 3.03% of the permanent strength of 33 judges<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>defence sector,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including the army and navy, has seen a rise in the number of women serving from 2020 and 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There has been a 73.80% <\/span><b>increase in Men engaged in managerial positions <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">between 2017 and 2025, whereas there has been a 102.54% increase in Women engaged in managerial positions during the same time period<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Women\u2019s participation in household decision-making has seen a marked improvement, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as, at least 16 out of 28 States and 6 out of 8 Union Territories report more than 90 per cent of women participating in household decision-making as of 2019-21.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Violence against Women and other challenges:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Crimes Against Women <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">constitute 7.18% of total crimes committed in year 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>West Bengal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reported the highest share (19.24 %), of reported Crimes Against Women to total crimes within state.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cybercrime<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against women has expanded rapidly with the growth of ICTs and digital platforms. Registered cases increased from 4,242 in 2017 to 19,510 in 2023, with cyber pornography and cyber stalking\/bullying most frequently reported; Karnataka (7,002) recorded the highest number of cases, followed by Maharashtra (2,502) and Uttarakhand (1,463).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A noted decline is observed between 2015-16 to 2019-21 in <\/span><b>Child Marriage.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The number of <\/span><b>suicides<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has increased for men, women, and transgender persons from 2018 to 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Key Challenges<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Persistent son preference affecting sex ratio at birth<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Low female workforce participation in urban areas<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dominance of informal and unpaid work among women<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender wage gap and limited asset ownership<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Underrepresentation in top political and corporate leadership<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heavy burden of unpaid care work<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Way Forward<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthen enforcement of laws against gender discrimination and sex-selective practices<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote creation of quality and formal employment opportunities for women<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enhance skill development, digital inclusion, and access to entrepreneurship<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide institutional support systems such as childcare and social security<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Encourage greater representation of women in leadership and governance roles<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve collection and utilisation of gender-disaggregated data for targeted policy design<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Women and Men in India 2025 Report highlights trends in population, health, education, jobs, and leadership, showing progress in gender equality and key challenges for policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":101330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[7271],"class_list":{"0":"post-101339","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-women-and-men-in-india-2025-report","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101342,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101339\/revisions\/101342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}