Topic:
Country: India
Delegate Name: Abbie Wong
Abbie Wong
India
UN Women
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
The economic empowerment of women ties into having a society where gender doesn’t matter. Since women make up 57.4 percent of the workforce it should be imperative that they receive the same treatment. The discrimination doesn’t just stop at wages though, some women don’t even have jobs, men having a 6.43 percent unemployment rate and women having a 8.4 percent unemployment rate. With the wage gap the inequality of women gets more severe. Women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, resulting in higher chances of poverty when looking at the low paying physical labor jobs in underdeveloped countries.
In 2012 only 27 percent of adult women had a job, compared to 79 percent of men. Along with India’s rapid urbanization rural jobs have been decreasing and not enough rural women have transitioned to working in urban areas. India struggles with gender equality, India ranks 120 among 131 countries in female labor force participation rates. The economic contribution of women in India is at 17 percent which is less than the global average, and compared to the 40 percent in China, India is clearly lacking.
Ways to ensure that women have the necessary skills to take on higher skill jobs would be education. Education alone isn’t enough though, social norms also play a big part. We need families to see that their daughters are capable of holding professional jobs and in the household they should act with no sexism. Employers need to commit to supporting diversity in the workplace by hiring women and paying them the same wages as men if they do similar jobs. Safe transportation and zero tolerance of sexual harassment is also important in the office. Offering safe transportation available to women would help rural women reach urban jobs that would be more in the city.
Works Cited
Annette Dixon, World Bank South Asia Vice President. “Women in India’s Economic Growth.” World Bank, World Bank Group, 16 Mar. 2018, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2018/03/17/women-indias-economic-growth.
“Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value.” UN Women, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw61/equal-pay.
“Female Unemployment by Country, around the World.” TheGlobalEconomy.com, https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/female_unemployment/.
“Male Unemployment by Country, around the World.” TheGlobalEconomy.com, https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/Male_unemployment/#:~:text=Unemployment%20rate%20for%20males%2C%202019,181%20countries%20was%206.43%20percent.
“Women in the Labor Force: A Databook : BLS Reports.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 Apr. 2021, https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-databook/2020/home.htm#:~:text=In%202019%2C%2057.4%20percent%20of,of%2060.0%20percent%20in%201999.
