THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is one of the states with the highest gender pay gaps in the country when it comes to casual labourers. The male casual labourers, both in the rural and urban areas of the state, earn the highest daily wage in the country at Rs 846 and Rs 903, respectively. But Malayali women are not as lucky as their male counterparts — they are ranked fifth for both rural and urban areas, according to the ‘Women and Men in India 2023’ report from the Union government.
Women earn just half of what men earn — 50.47% in rural Kerala and 45.29% in urban areas. The state has the third highest gender pay gap in the country for rural and urban areas, showed the report.
The wage gap for the country in rural and urban areas is 31% and 35.34%, respectively.
In rural Kerala, the average daily wage for casual labourers, other than public works, is Rs 846 for men and Rs 419 for women. The wages in urban areas are Rs 903 and Rs 494, respectively. The national average wages for men and women in rural areas are Rs 416 and Rs 287, and urban areas Rs 515 and Rs 333, respectively.
As per the report, Puducherry recorded the highest gender gap for rural areas in the country at 61.02%, followed by Tamil Nadu (51.33%). For urban areas, Lakshadweep came first with 49.69% followed by Gujarat at 46.12%. Women in Tripura earn the highest daily wage (Rs 647) in rural areas and in urban areas, Delhi women top the list with Rs 600.
“Women are largely engaged in unskilled work which is a major reason for the income inequality,” said State Planning Board’s former member K N Harilal. “The huge gender wage gap is not good for Kerala, a progressive state in many ways. Women casual labourers are mostly engaged in unskilled work in construction and agriculture sectors. Skill difference may partly explain the wage gap. But the variation in wages for women and men doing the same work is discrimination and a serious issue,” he said.
Men paid more in almost all jobs: Union ministry report
Malayali men make more money than women in almost all jobs, showed the average wage per hour for nine occupation categories listed in the report.
Among professionals in the urban areas, the hourly wages for men and women were Rs 166 and Rs 138, respectively. While a male technician earns Rs 108 per hour, his female counterpart earns only Rs 87. The hourly wages for men and women in the ‘service workers, shop and market sales workers category’ were Rs 66 and Rs 49, respectively. Highest gender gap was among ‘craft and related trade workers’, where men earned Rs 97 as against Rs 43 by women, the report said.
Only in one occupation category — legislators, senior officials and managers — women earned more than men. Rural women in this category earn Rs 153 per hour as against Rs 147 by men.
HIGHLIGHTS OF REPORT
Kerala has the highest proportion of women among tertiary education teachers. 61.33% of the total 55,670 teachers are women as against the national average of 41.59%
Kerala has the highest proportion of women among employees of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs). Of the total 69,285 employees in the sector, 30,552 are women. At 44.10%, the state had the highest women presence in SCBs, followed by Ladakh, 40.63%, and Goa, 39.11%. Nationally, women constituted 24.99%of the total SCB staff.