Revelations in the World Economic Forum’s latest Gender Gap Index hold no surprises as far as India’s poor performance is concerned. Women have been the biggest casualties not just of the impact of the Covid-19-induced lockdowns but of the 2016 demonetisation, which saw unemployment soar to a 45-year high. Well before the pandemic, women’s participation rate in the workforce was at a low 24.8 per cent. Widespread joblessness following the lockdown last year reduced that to 22.3 per cent, and research shows that though men have gradually returned to work in the post-Covid recovery, far fewer women did. India’s ranking has fallen a steep 28 spots to 140 among 156 countries. In South Asia, only Pakistan and Afghanistan, two of the world’s basket cases, do worse.
TO READ THE FULL STORY, SUBSCRIBE NOW NOW AT JUST RS 249 A MONTH.
Already a premium subscriber? LOGIN NOW
What you get on Business Standard Premium?
-
Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.
-
Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.
-
Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.
-
Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.
-
26 years of website archives.
-
Preferential invites to Business Standard events.

Subscribe to Business Standard Premium
Exclusive Stories, Curated Newsletters, 26 years of Archives, E-paper, and more!
Insightful news, sharp views, newsletters, e-paper, and more! Unlock incisive commentary only on Business Standard.
Download the Business Standard App for latest Business News and Market News .
First Published: Thu, April 01 2021. 23:35 IST
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU