Context

• Despite India's emergence as a global economic and digital leader, the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 ranks India 131st out of 148 countries, revealing persistent gender inequality. This editorial calls for urgent policy action to mainstream women's health, economic participation, and care infrastructure into national development strategies.

Background

• India has made significant strides in economy, digital innovation, and youth potential.
• However, the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 by WEF ranks India 131/148, showing severe inequality, especially in economic participation (143rd) and health and survival indicators.
• Gender equality is now a demographic and economic imperative, not just a rights issue.

Global Gender Gap Index

• Nature: An annual index that measures and compares gender equality across countries.
• Published By: World Economic Forum (WEF) Established In: 2009 •
• Purpose: Tracks and benchmarks gender-based disparities globally to monitor progress towards gender parity over time. 
• Assessment Areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity Educational Attainment - Health and Survival - Political Empowerment 

Challenges Highlighted 

• Health and Survival Inequality: Skewed Sex Ratio at Birth: Reflects deep-rooted son preference.
• Lower Healthy Life Expectancy for Women:Indicates poor health outcomes despite rising education levels.
• High Anaemia Rates: 57% of women (15–49 years) are anaemic (NFHS-5), affecting productivity, learning, and maternal health.
• Neglect of Reproductive and Preventive Health: Particularly for rural and lower-income women.
• Economic Participation Deficit: Low Female Labour Force Participation (FLFPR): Women earn less than one-third of men's income.
• Under-representation in Decision-making: Women are absent from boardrooms, budget-making bodies, etc.
• Unpaid Domestic Work: Women do 7x more unpaid care work than men (Time Use Survey), which is unrecognized in GDP and public policy.
• Policy and Structural Gaps: Lack of Investment in Care Infrastructure: Absence of support systems like crèches, eldercare, and maternity services.
• Policy Blind Spots: National policies fail to address women's lived realities or integrate gender perspectives in economic planning.
• Missed Economic Opportunity: Despite projections (e.g., $770 billion GDP gain by 2025 from closing gender gaps - McKinsey, 2015), no transformative shift occurred.
• Demographic Risk: Rising elderly population (nearing 20% by 2050), mostly dependent older women, with shrinking working-age base.

Way Forward

• Health and Nutrition Interventions: Boost Investment in Public Health Systems: Prioritise women's reproductive, preventive, and nutritional health.
• Strengthen Primary Healthcare: Especially in rural and underserved areas.
• Economic Empowerment and Care Economy: Recognise and Reduce Unpaid Care
• Work: Use time-use surveys and gender budgeting to account for invisible labour.
• Invest in Care Infrastructure: Crèches, eldercare, and maternity benefits to facilitate women's (re)entry into workforce.
• Policy Reforms: Integrated Policy Frameworks: Link health, labour, and social protection with gender equity goals.
• Mainstream Gender in National Accounting: Recognise unpaid care work in GDP and public policy.
• Adopt Global Best Practices: Learn from Uruguay and South Korea which successfully integrated care economies into development plans.
• Institutional and Social Mindset Shift: Treat Women as Builders of the Economy: Shift away from seeing women as mere welfare recipients
• Ensure Real Investment: Move beyond slogans to tangible financial commitments and programmatic implementation.