Gender discrimination reason for 98 pc of employment gap between men and women: Oxfam report
New Delhi (PTI): Gender discrimination is the reason for 98 per cent of employment gap between men and women in India, according to a new report of Oxfam India.
The report highlighted that women in India, in spite of having the same educational qualification and work experience as men will be discriminated in the labour market due to societal and employers' prejudices.
The Oxfam India's 'India Discrimination Report 2022' shows that discrimination causes 100 per cent of the employment inequality faced by women in rural areas in labour market and 98 per cent in urban areas.
The report said self-employed men earn 2.5 times more than females, 83 per cent of which is attributed to gender-based discrimination. Also, 95 per cent of the gap between the earnings of men and women casual wage workers is due to discrimination.
The report further said that 93 per cent of the gap in earnings of men and women is due to discrimination.
Rural self-employed men earn twice of what women earn in rural areas. Male casual workers earn Rs 3,000 per month more than females, 96 per cent of which is attributed to discrimination, it said.
A gap of as high as 91.1 per cent in earnings between males and females is explained by discrimination.
The academically recognized statistical model applied in the report is now able to quantify the discrimination that women face in the labour market. With regard to the lower wages for salaried women, 67 per cent is due to discrimination and 33 per cent due to lack of education and work experience, the report said.
Oxfam India called on the government to actively enforce effective measures for the protection and right to equal wages and work for all women. The Government of India should also incentivize the participation of women in workforce, including enhancement in pay, up-skilling, job reservations and easy return-to-work options after maternity, the report said.
What the report finds is that if a man and woman starts on an equal footing, the woman will be discriminated in the economic sphere, where she will lag behind in regular/salaried, casual and self-employment, said Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India. "The inequality in the labour market for gender and other social categories, the report finds, is not just due to poor access to education or work experience but because of discrimination," he said.
These findings are based on the government data on employment and labour from 2004-05 to 2019-20.
The Oxfam India report refers to unit level data from 61st round National Sample Survey (NSS) data on employment-unemployment (2004-05), the Periodic Labour Force Survey in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and All India Debt and Investment Survey by the government.
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Man dragged into river by crocodile in Vadodara; search ops underway
Vadodara (PTI): A 22-year-old man was dragged into a river by a crocodile in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Thursday and search operations are currently underway to locate him, a police official said.
The incident took place at 1:30pm when Mithun Vasava, a resident of Kagdipara village, had gone to take a dip in Dev river amid the stifling heat, the official told PTI.
"The crocodile suddenly attacked the man and dragged him into the river. Search operations are currently underway to locate Vasava," the official added.
