Poverty and Social Exclusion in India : Women
This brief describes the poverty and social exclusion of Women in India. The last few decades have seen remarkable progress in the status of women and girls, yet the cultural roots of gender inequality are still strong and affect a range of outcome...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/514381491905052625/Issue-brief-poverty-and-social-exclusion-in-India-women http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26338 |
| Summary: | This brief describes the poverty and
social exclusion of Women in India. The last few decades
have seen remarkable progress in the status of women and
girls, yet the cultural roots of gender inequality are still
strong and affect a range of outcomes. The high salaries and
independent lifestyles of women in urban India have captured
public imagination. Yet progress has been very uneven and
slower than would have been expected based on India’s levels
of per capita income. Females still have an overall survival
deficit in childhood and during their reproductive years and
are severely disadvantaged in the labor market. Inequalities
in wages are a disincentive for women to work, but they
clearly want work!. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is an example of a
program that explicitly seeks to provide paid work to poor
women. The scheme mandates that at least one-third of
workers should be women and makes several provisions to
enhance the participation of women. Threats to women’s
security also influence the ability of women to access
markets and services and claim spaces for themselves. This
is an area in which policy can have a huge effect. Making
public spaces safe for women is a major step forward in
enhancing women’s access to these spaces. |
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