{"id":95253,"date":"2026-03-28T12:19:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T06:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=95253"},"modified":"2026-03-28T12:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T06:49:54","slug":"gender-wage-gap-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/gender-wage-gap-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender Wage Gap in India &#8211; Insights from PLFS 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Gender Wage Gap Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/periodic-labour-force-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\">Periodic Labour Force Survey<\/a> (PLFS) 2025 shows higher wage growth for women than men, but persistent gender wage inequality.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Gender Wage Gap in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gender Wage Gap refers to the difference in earnings between men and women for similar work or across sectors.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India, this gap reflects structural inequalities in employment opportunities, skill access, and labour market participation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Nature of the Wage Gap<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women earn less than men across all job categories.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The gap varies by type of employment, such as salaried jobs, casual labour, and self-employment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Informal sector dominance and occupational segregation worsen the disparity.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Causes of Wage Inequality<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lower female labour force participation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Concentration of women in low-paying and informal jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Limited access to education, skills, and capital.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social norms and unpaid care responsibilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Significance<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reducing the gender wage gap is essential for inclusive economic growth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It enhances household incomes, boosts productivity, and improves gender equality outcomes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The PLFS 2025 data presents a mixed picture of progress and challenges in India\u2019s labour market, particularly with respect to gender-based wage disparities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Employment Levels<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 61.6 crore people were employed in India in 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Male workers: 41.6 crore.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Female workers: 20.0 crore.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This indicates a significant gender gap in overall employment levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Higher Wage Growth for Women<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the data, women\u2019s wages grew faster than men\u2019s across all job categories in 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Salaried jobs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Women\u2019s wages grew by 7.2% compared to 5.8% for men.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Self-employment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Women\u2019s earnings rose by 8.8%, slightly higher than men\u2019s 8%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Casual labour<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Women\u2019s wages increased by 5.4%, while men\u2019s wages declined marginally by 0.2%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This indicates a positive trend in wage growth for women, suggesting gradual improvements in labour market conditions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Persistent Wage Inequality<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite faster growth, the wage gap remains substantial.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In salaried jobs, women earned only 76% of male earnings.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In casual labour, women earned 69% of male wages.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In self-employment, women earned just 36% of what men earned.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This highlights that higher growth rates are not sufficient to bridge the existing disparity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Changes in Employment Structure<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The survey also shows improvements in the nature of employment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The share of women in salaried jobs increased to 18.2% in 2025 from 16.6% in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Self-employment among women declined, indicating a shift toward better-quality jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Casual labour participation also increased slightly.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Salaried jobs are considered more secure as they provide social security benefits and a stable income.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Overall Labour Market Trends<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The broader labour market indicators also show gradual improvement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rural unemployment declined to 2.4% from 2.5%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Urban unemployment fell to 4.8% from 5%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Youth unemployment declined to 9.9% from 10.3%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, female youth unemployment increased slightly, indicating persistent gender-specific challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Labour Force Participation<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labour force participation trends present a mixed picture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rural LFPR declined slightly to 62.8%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Urban LFPR remained stable at 52.2%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A decline in LFPR suggests that fewer individuals, especially in rural areas, are actively seeking employment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Informal Sector Concerns<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The data also reflects slowing momentum in the informal sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wage growth in the informal sector was only 3.9% in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job creation slowed significantly, with fewer establishments being added.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since a large proportion of women are employed in the informal sector, this has important implications for gender equality in earnings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/women-saw-higher-wage-growth-than-men-across-all-job-types-in-2025-10605140\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gender wage gap in India persists despite higher female wage growth, as Periodic Labour Force Survey 2025 highlights inequality in pay, jobs, and labour participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":95257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[6419,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-95253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-gender-wage-gap","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95253","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\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95253"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95259,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95253\/revisions\/95259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}