Even countries where gender parity is a norm don’t have wives earning as much as their husbands, according to a study by the Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. The data was collated by a non-profit organization, the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS).
The report studied data between 1973 and 2016 across 2.85 million households in 45 countries in a first-of-its-kind global survey of intra-household gender inequality in wages, covering heterosexual couples in the age group between 18 and 65 years.
Both rich and poor countries do not have women on an average earning as much as their male counterparts.
As per the researchers, even in Nordic countries like Norway and Sweden, where gender inequality is the lowest, the share of women’s earnings is 50 % less than everywhere else.
They add that the reasons for the same are universal. While women are homemakers, men are still seen as the quintessential breadwinners. Many women take a break after childbirth and bear the responsibility of unpaid domestic work and caregiving.
As per the researchers, a major impact of the discrepancy is the lack of financial security during old age for women as pension is linked to income, apart from lower savings and wealth accumulation.
However, one positive observation from the report has been the reduction in intra-household inequality by 20%.
The report particularly highlights the need to boost women’s workforce participation in countries like India. It has the lowest women workforce participation at just 20.3%. Avtar has been working to improve gender representation in the workforce for over two decades, batting for flexible working, second career programs, and maternity benefits for women across industries. An increasing number of companies on the Best Companies for Women In India, an annual gender analytics exercise, are offering the benefits to attract and retain more women in the workforce.
