Economic empowerment of women is imperative for sustainable development of any country and the society at large. Empowered women act as catalysts for change and help in multiplying developmental efforts.
Women economic empowerment includes their access to and control over existing markets and productive resources, access to decent work with equal pay, control over their own lives and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels from the household to international institutions.
The Challenge:
In the last few years, women participation in work-forces have gone down sharply in India. According to the Gender Inequality Index (GII) 2019, conducted by the UNDP, female participation in the labour force in India is as low as 23% compared to 78% in men. In contrast, in the year 2004, women participation was 35%. India ranks at a low 122 of 162 countries on the 2018 Gender Inequality Index.
There are many reasons for gender inequality in society, and disparity in education is the major one. India is a country, where traditionally families are often, less willing to invest in female education because of established practices of early marriage, domestic responsibilities, primary child caregiver role, low remuneration for female worker, and reservations regarding women working outside the home. These barriers prevent many girls from accessing even basic education, let alone higher education and training. Women also face more barriers then men in becoming entrepreneurs and starting their own business. Reasons include time constraints due to care responsibilities, lack of access to productive assets such as land and credit, and lack of access to information or relevant networks.
The Opportunity:
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, equal participation of women in the workforce will increase India’s GDP by 27%. A McKinsey Global Institute study found that the economic impact of achieving gender equality in India could be an additional US $700 billion GDP, by the year 2025.
The more women work, better is the economic growth, as well as social development of the county. Women contribution in household income, changes spending in ways that benefit children, in terms of their health and education. It has been found that for every one additional year of education for women of reproductive age, child mortality decreases by 9.5 per cent.
In the corporate world, one in every three private-sector leaders reported that their profits increased manifold as a result of their efforts to empower women in emerging markets.
Skilling – The Way Forward:
Economic empowerment is a must for an improvement in women’s status in society. Education is what will give empowerment. Towards this end Skilling is essential which can make the women job-ready and independent. Skilling can act as the bridge between the job and the female job seeker. Skill Development is the means of empowering women with the knowledge, expertise and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the economic development process. Since a majority of women in India lack formal education, skill development can improve employability and income-earning opportunities for them and enhance sustainable development and livelihoods. This can further bring about women empowerment and propel India towards being an equal and just society.
Stay tuned to this page, for the next part of the series where we discuss the guidelines to follow, for gender inclusivity.
This article is written by Kakali Dasgupta Saha, Technical Adviser, BroadArks Technology Pvt Ltd. Kakali has interests in Women empowerment, Gender mainstreaming and Development economics. Through an end-to-end integrated model of job skills training, wage employment and entrepreneurship, BroadArks creates opportunities for individuals, enterprises and communities, contributing to large scale improvements in social and economic conditions. Know more about our mission at https://broadarks.com/