Closing the gender gap

India still has miles to go

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new report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, titled "Women and Men in India 2024", highlights a mix of encouraging progress and persistent challenges. One of the report's key takeaways is the growing presence of women in the country's workforce, governance, and economic activities. Notably, the sharp rise in the female labour force participation rate (LFPR) from 23.2 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24 is significant. Yet, the achievement is shadowed by the fact that this still lags far behind the male LFPR of 77.2 per cent, and even below the global average female LFPR of 50 per cent, according to the World Bank. This reflects not just a gap in opportunity but in structural conditions, which continue to disadvantage women. However, encouragingly, wage gaps across both rural and urban areas are narrowing, indicating a shift towards more equitable economic recognition. In fact, between July-September 2023 and April-June 2024, the highest increase in wages was observed for urban wom