Indian women spend 16 billion hours a day doing unpaid care work

NEW DELHI: Though India’s economy is one of the most powerful in the world on the back of its massive market and workforce, it’s severely lacking when it comes to wages and gender equality. India is among the worst for women’s participation in the labour force and its view of unpaid care work is damaging to the economy, finds a study by Oxfam.
NEARLY 90% OF INDIANS EARN LESS THAN 10,000 A MONTH



INDIA PERFORMS POORLY ON GENDER EQUALITY MEASURES
India’s rank in the Gender Inequality Index is 127th out of 195 countries, and 149th in the Gender Development Index, out of 195 countries.
INDIA IS AMONG THE WORST FOR FEMALE LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION
India’s female labour force participation (FLFP) is 30.8%. It ranks 20th worst for female labour force participation out of 187 countries. It trails Pakistan in South Asia and only ranks above some Middle Eastern countries. In comparison, male labour force participation rate in India is 79.7%.
ONLY A THIRD OF WOMEN WORK AND FOR ONLY A THIRD OF A MAN’S PAY
India’s gender pay gap in 2011-12 was a whopping 34%. For every 100 a man earns, a woman only makes 66 for the same work.



WOMEN DO 10 TIMES MORE UNPAID CARE WORK THAN MEN


The share of unpaid care work in India’s GDP is 3.5%. Women account for 3.1% of it. A whopping of 11 million jobs could be generated if unpaid work is recognised and there is public investment of even 2% of GDP in the care economy.