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New Delhi: Women across the globe continue to earn less than their male counterparts and the persistent pay gap is extremely worrying. The gap prevails despite calls to plug it and bring parity. A World Bank report points that women receive just 77 cents for each dollar earned by men. It also says that closing the gap could raise global gross domestic product by over 20%.
The gender pay gap — the disparity in incomes between men and women — is disconcerting and reflects the inequalities in the labour market around the world. At current rates, closing the gap will take 257 years, the UN (ILO) underlined.
The gender pay gap means the difference in average gross hourly wages earned by men and women. It is calculated on the basis of salaries paid directly to employees before deducting income tax and social security contributions. It includes only those companies or organisations that have at least 10 employees.
In other words, the gender pay gap represents the difference in average earnings between men and women in the workforce, typically shown as a percentage of men's earnings. For instance, a 15% pay gap means that, on an average, women earn 15% less than men.
A host of factors contribute to the gender pay gap. These include differences in education levels, occupational segregation, unequal pay, and limited access to particular types of jobs. Besides, motherhood often leads to a wage penalty that can affect women throughout their careers, an ILO report says. It has also been seen that the gender pay gap increases with age.
While factors like education, skills, and experience do go a long way in creating the gender pay gap, a major portion of it is still due to discrimination based on gender. Such discriminatory practices and attitudes include paying women less for work of equal value, and undervaluing work in female-dominated sectors.
Although countries carry out different methods to calculate the gender pay gap and promote gender equality, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index is widely recognised as the global yardstick.
According to WEF, “(the Index) annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment)."
In the Global Gender Gap Index of 2025, Iceland held the top position for the 16th year in a row. It was followed by Finland, Norway, UK and New Zealand. In South Asia, Bhutan was the best, it was ranked 119, Nepal stood at 125, and Sri Lanka was ranked 130 in the index. India stood at the 131st place.
In 1993-94, women in India earned on average 48% less than men. This gap was narrowed to 28% by 2018-19, according to labour force survey data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). But the pandemic took a toll on this steady progress.
Even though India has made a significant leap in narrowing the gender pay gap, it still remains wide compared to global standards. The Global Gender Gap Index data showed India ranked 131 out of 148 countries. This was down from its ranking of 129 in 2024. The gender parity score was 64.1%,
India has made huge strides in Economic Participation (40.7%), with income parity improving from 28.6% to 29.9%. Educational Attainment stands at a high 97.1%, reflecting near parity in literacy and higher education enrolment.
Health and Survival improved because of better sex ratio and life expectancy. But Political Empowerment dropped by 0.6 points, with women’s representation in Parliament down from 14.7% to 13.8% and ministerial representation fell from 6.5% to 5.6%.
Indian women have transited from traditional workplaces to modern offices, the gender pay gap remains. Even with progress in workplace equality, the pay gap between men and women continues to be a major challenge in India. As we mouth rhetoric about women empowerment, it is imperative to look at the gender pay gap and take concrete measures to bring women at par with men economically.
