Women in rural Odisha earn nearly 3 times less than men: Eco survey

Bhubaneswar: There’s a yawning gap between the average wages of men and women in Odisha with rural women earning on an average Rs 7,477 less than their male counterparts, while for urban women the pay gap is less at Rs 6,763, according to the Economic Survey Report 2018-19 released here on Monday.
There’s a nearly three-fold gap between the average earnings of a male and a female salaried employee in rural Odisha, with the man earning Rs 11, 503 as against a woman’s average salary of R 4,026.Similarly in urban areas, a male employee gets an average salary of Rs 19,623 while the average salary of a female employee is Rs 12,860 with a gender pay gap of Rs 6,763.
For casual workers, too, there is wage disparity between male and female workers. However, the wage gap is higher in urban areas as compared to rural areas, the report said. The situation is equally bad in the unorganized sector, especially in agriculture and other labour-intensive sectors where women continue to get paid significantly less than men. The average per day wage of a causal labourer (other than public works) for men is Rs 244.71 per day against Rs 160.77 per day for women in rural areas.
Similarly, in urban areas the average per day wage for men is Rs 265.94 against Rs 178.48 per day for women. The gender pay gap in unorganised sector in urban and rural areas is Rs 87.46 and Rs 83.94 per day in the state. “The disparity begins from childhood when not many girls are allowed to go to school. Very few of them continue higher education and lesser number get skill training. Women are not considered as a skilled workforce. If they join the workforce they have to take leave for maternity, childcare and health of family members. Unlike men they have to work both at home and at workplace affecting their performance,” said women’s rights activist Prajna Bastia.
The high gender pay gap is also affected by lower labour force participation rate (LFPR) of women in the state. The LFPR for men and women in Odisha is 84.1 and 21.6 respectively against the national average of 80.2 and 25.3. Financial independence being one of the key strands for gender equality and women’s empowerment, there is a considerable gap in access to finance for women. Of the total bank deposits, 60.3% bank accounts are owned by men compared to 28.9% by women and remaining by non-individuals. Amounts deposited by men are more than double that of women, the report pointed out.
Activist Namrata Chadha said, “Neither women’s rights activists nor policy makers have ever focused on economic empowerment of women.” She added, “Women’s issues are confined to either domestic violence or formation of self-help groups. The issue equal work for equal pay for men and women has never been raised in a proper forum, so the gender pay gap is widening.”