Gender inequality in wage and employment in Indian labour market

Lama, Sita and Majumder, Rajarshi (2018): Gender inequality in wage and employment in Indian labour market. Published in: Journal of Academic Research in Economics , Vol. 10, No. 3 (December 2018): pp. 482-500.

Abstract

The labour market suffers from several imperfections, most of which act against the women. They face entry barriers which act as a deterrent and discourage them to enter labour market. Using nationally representative sample data collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) 2011-12 through quinquennial surveys on “Employment and Unemployment”, the paper tries to examine the prevalence of various forms of inequality and the condition of workers across formal and informal sectors, as well as across gender, location and work status. Oaxaca decomposition technique (Oaxaca 1973) is also used to examine the contribution of inequality factors to overall inequality. A substantial wage disparity is found across workers of different regions, sectors and gender. Women workers earn much lower wages than their male counterparts and the inequality among them is also much higher. The analysis also suggested a comparatively a high gender wage gap in various categories of activities. It is surprising to find that in India the wage disparity exists mainly because of large wage difference within the various categories of workers. Further, the examination of the sources of wage difference reveals that gender wage gap is mostly because of discrimination in wage distribution against women workers. The endowment is the greater contributing factor in case of wage gaps between regular and casual workers and also for rural and urban divides.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Labour; Gender Gap; Wage Decomposition; Informal Sector; Discrimination; India
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender ; Non-labor Discrimination; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J24 - Human Capital ; Skills ; Occupational Choice ; Labor Productivity; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J31 - Wage Level and Structure ; Wage Differentials

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