Global Gender Gap Report 2025 by World Economic Forum (WEF)

Report Objective & Framework

The Global Gender Gap Report measures gender parity across four core dimensions:

• Economic Participation and Opportunity
• Educational Attainment
• Health and Survival
• Political Empowerment

Despite some educational progress, India continues to rank among the lowest globally, especially in economic inclusion and health outcomes for women.

Key Findings for India

Economic Participation & Opportunity (Rank: 143rd)

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• Female Labour Force Participation (FLFP): Below 25%
• Gender Pay Gap: Women earn less than one-third of what men earn
• Underrepresentation: Women remain marginal in formal jobs, leadership roles, and entrepreneurship
• Lost Opportunity: McKinsey (2015) estimated $770 billion potential GDP gain by closing gender gaps

Health & Survival

• Skewed Sex Ratio at Birth: Reflects persistent son preference
• High Anaemia Prevalence: NFHS-5: 57% of women aged 15–49 are anaemic — impacting work, learning, and maternal health
• Lower Healthy Life Expectancy for Women than Men

Unpaid Care Work

• Time Use Survey: Women perform 7 times more unpaid domestic work than men
• This labour remains invisible in GDP accounting and is underfunded in public policy

Policy and Leadership Gaps

• Minimal presence of women in:
  • Legislatures
  • Corporate boardrooms
  • Budget committees and judiciary
• Care economy infrastructure — childcare, elder care, maternity benefits — remains severely underdeveloped

Consequences of Gender Inequality

• Economic Underutilisation
  • Wasting over 50% of India’s human capital
  • Drags GDP growth, productivity, and innovation
• Demographic and Fiscal Strain
  • With rising elderly population (20% by 2050) and falling fertility, low FLFP increases the dependency ratio, threatening fiscal sustainability
• Health-Linked Productivity Deficit
  • Poor reproductive and nutritional health among women weakens:
    • Labour productivity
    • Educational attainment
    • Intergenerational health outcomes

• Policy Blind Spots
  • Low female participation in policymaking leads to:
    • Underinvestment in care infrastructure
    • Poor gender targeting in welfare schemes

• Intergenerational Inequality Trap
  • Girls in low-parity environments face poorer nutrition, education, and economic mobility, locking communities in poverty cycles

Way Forward

• Invest in Women’s Health
  • Scale up public health funding focused on:
  • Reproductive health
  • Anaemia reduction
  • Nutrition and preventive care

• Build the Care Economy
  • Public investment in:
  • Childcare centres
  • Elderly care facilities
  • Paid maternity support
  • Best Practice: Uruguay’s National Care System

• Boost Female Labour Participation
  • Skill training for emerging sectors
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Enforce equal pay and workplace protections

• Institutional Reforms
  • Make Time Use Surveys regular
  • Expand gender-responsive budgeting
  • Mainstream gender-disaggregated data in state and central planning

• Social Norms Shift
  • National campaigns to:
  • Dismantle patriarchal stereotypes
  • Promote positive representation of working women
  • Educate families on the value of daughters

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