Only 32% of the married women in India are employed, reveals NFHS survey

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Only 32% of the married women in India are employed, reveals NFHS survey
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  • Married working women are still a relatively new concept in India as only 32% of them are employed as per a survey.
  • The report reveals severe gender disparities in India that is still very much prevalent.
  • And around 15% of the women who are working are not paid at all for their work.
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A new report by National Family Health Survey (NHFS) suggested that only 32% of married women aged between 15 to 49 years are employed, whereas, this percentage is much more for married men in the country, which is 98% for the same age group.

Job after marriage for women is still a relatively new concept in India. After marriage, most women tend to engage in work or jobs less than men mainly because of family and household responsibilities.

The report reveals severe gender disparities in India that is still very much prevalent. But the good news here is the married working women percentage has increased slightly from 31%, as of last year’s NFHS report (NFHS - 4), to 32% between 2019-2021, as of new NHFS - 5 report.

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To add to this, another data by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) revealed that around 21 million women disappeared from the workforce, leaving only 9% of the eligible population employed or looking for positions.

Another shocking fact is that 15% of the women who are working are not paid at all in India and yet again this percentage for men is just 4%.

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Among employed women, the percentage not paid at all for the work they do is highest (22%) among women age 15- 19, but it declines to 13-17 percent among women age 25 and above, according to the NFHS report.

Several reports suggest that women are paid less and missed out on a raise or promotion as compared to men. According to a Linkedin report, Indian women face the strongest gender biases among Asian Pacific countries, where the regional average is 60%.

The struggle faced by women doesn’t end here, the report further highlighted that 85% of the married women who earn cash say that they make decisions alone or jointly with their husbands on how their cash earnings are used. It is most common for women to make these decisions jointly with their husbands.

In addition, this 85% has increased in the last three years as compared to 82% between 2016 to 2018 (NFHS - 4)

And only 18% of them make their own decisions, and for 14% of women, the husband is the sole decision-maker regarding the use of women’s earnings.

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