Prisoner of Gender 

News: According to a recent Pew Survey, 79% of men and 82% women in India agree that it is very important for women to have the same rights as men. However, the anomaly is that this rarely translated into specific behaviours, relationships, freedoms. 

How different surveys highlight the discriminatory attitudes towards women in India? 

India is ranked second among 61 countries when it comes to completely agreeing that when jobs are scarce, men should have more rights to a job than women.  

Among 34 countries, Indians are the third most likely to say that marriage is more satisfying when the husband provides for the family while wife takes care of the house and children.  

How this affects the society and the economy negatively? 

In other countries rising education and income levels and falling fertility rates have led to rising shares of women in jobs, but female labour force participation in India has dropped even in the same opportune conditions.  

Data from NFHS and other surveys points out that specific discriminatory attitudes are a major factor in fettering women’s access to paid work. 

Source: This post is based on the article “Prisoner of Gender” published in Times of India on 4th Mar 2022.