Could Better Jobs for Men Have Improved Gender Equality? The Relationship between Economic Growth and Gender Equality in India

Sujata Balasubramanian
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Sujata Balasubramanian: Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

Asian Development Review (ADR), 2023, vol. 40, issue 02, 241-269

Abstract: Economic theory suggests that growth may improve gender equality directly by raising women’s employment and indirectly by reducing poverty–thereby causing poorer families to discriminate less against females in intra-household allocations. This paper argues that growth in India has not substantially improved gender equality because it has not sufficiently activated either of these mechanisms. I analyze structural changes from 1982/83 to 2011/12 to show that India’s high-growth period has not been pro-poor. While female employment levels have actually declined since the 1980s, growth has not expanded remunerative employment opportunities sufficiently, even for poor males. This suggests that better-paid jobs for men—by lowering poverty—might actually have led to greater gender equality in India—by reducing poverty-linked gender discrimination. The analysis thus highlights the importance of pro-poor growth, illustrating how structural changes can shape employment, thereby altering the quality of growth and its impact on gender equality.

Keywords: gender and employment; gender and poverty; growth and gender equality; India-employment; India-gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I30 J16 O15 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1142/S0116110523500105

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