The findings of Oxfam India’s latest ‘India Discrimination Report 2022’ indicate that there is a significant gap in the earnings between men and women in the case of regular and self-employment in urban areas. The lower wages for salaried women are due to 67 percent of discrimination and 33 percent due to lack of education and work experience. The average earning is ₹ 16,000 for men and merely ₹ 6,600 for women in urban areas in self-employment. The average earning of men is ₹ 19,800 as against ₹ 15,600 for women in regular/salaried employment in urban areas. Also, in urban areas the average earnings of men (₹ 9,000) are significantly higher than women (₹ 5,700) even in casual employment. Apart from women, historically oppressed communities along with religious minorities also continue to face discrimination in accessing jobs, livelihoods, and agricultural credit. The mean income for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes (“SC/ST”) persons in urban areas who are in regular employment is ₹ 15,300 as against ₹ 20,300 for persons belonging to the non-SC/ST category. The average earning of self-employed workers is ₹ 15,900 for non-SC/STs and ₹ 10,500 for SC/STs. The average monthly earning for the SC/ST workers in casual work is ₹ 8,000 below the corresponding figure of ₹ 8,600 for the non-SC/ST.
[Data Source: Oxfam India]
[Note: Values have been approximated to the nearest hundred]