Unleashing India's gender dividend: Dismantling demand-side barriers
India's ambition to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047 is set against a huge opportunity provided by the country's demographic dividend - its large working-age population. Often overlooked in India's demographic dividend, however, is its 'gender dividend'—the economic potential of 196 million employable women currently outside the workforce. This underleveraged asset is crucial to India's growth ambitions, but the window to act is narrowing as fertility rates drop and the demographic advantage begins to fade.
While the FY23-24 female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) of 41.7% suggests improvement, as against 37.0% reported in FY22-23, much of it stems from informal and unpaid work. Systemic barriers continue to block women's entry, retention, and advancement in formal employment. Women's economic participation is not just a social imperative—it is fundamental to securing India's future prosperity.
The real question isn't why women aren't working, but why so many are kept out of the workforce despite being willing, educated, and skilled. The challenge lies primarily in the demand-side barriers that remain deeply embedded within corporate structures. Barriers largely stem from inadequate workplace policies—such as flexible work, biased hiring practices—and poor infrastructure for safe housing, mobility, and workplace design. While supply-side challenges also exist, global evidence from China and Malaysia shows that dismantling structural demand-side barriers significantly boosts women's economic participation. Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district is a local example of how targeted interventions can transform gender outcomes. Once struggling with low female literacy (57%), child marriages, and a skewed sex ratio, industrial investments and schemes like Vidiyal Payanam, offering free transportation for women workers, and efforts to provide career guidance and address safety concerns resulted in a complete turnaround. As of 2022-2023, there has been an 89% rise in girls' enrollment in higher education (2022–23) and an increase in the average age of marriage from 14 to 21 years.
Workplaces have traditionally been designed around men's needs, limiting women's ability to balance professional and personal responsibilities. The lack of flexibility remains a major barrier, especially for women with caregiving roles. Without options like remote or part-time work, many are excluded altogether. An Udaiti study, From Intent to Practice: Fostering Gender Inclusive Workplaces, found that while 73% of hiring managers report setting gender diversity goals, only 21% have implemented concrete strategies. This gap between intent and action highlights the need for workplaces that reflect women's realities. NatWest, for instance, allows employees to balance working from home and the office, requiring them to be in the office a minimum of 40% of the month, and provides other flexible work options like part-time work and phased return after parental leave.
Second, unconscious bias in hiring and promotion continues to perpetuate gender disparities. While women's workforce participation has improved, leadership representation remains low. According to a 2024 LinkedIn and The Quantum Hub report, women hold just 18.3% of senior leadership roles and 15.3% of C-suite positions, slightly down from 2023. Biases—such as gendered job descriptions and subjective evaluations—hinder progress. Solutions like unconscious bias training, neutral job postings, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven hiring tools are critical. Companies like Hindustan Unilever and Sony Pictures Networks India are leading efforts, with Sony doubling referral rewards for women and rolling out bias training.
Another critical area lies in creating pathways for women to return to work after career breaks. McKinsey research shows women face significant hurdles re-entering the workforce post-maternity or caregiving, impacting career progression. Returnship programmes are key solutions. Wipro's 'Begin Again' programme has achieved a 99% return rate for women after maternity leave. Amazon India's Rekindle programme has helped over 200 mid-level women executives rejoin in 2023 alone. Such initiatives are vital to normalising career breaks as natural, not penalising, phases in women's professional journeys.
Finally, companies must take a systematic approach to women's career progression. While many focus on hiring, few have clear strategies to advance women into leadership. Despite being more employable than men, women face barriers in male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing. Leadership development programs tailored to women's needs—mentorship, sponsorship, and stretch assignments—are essential. Companies like Infosys and Genpact have launched Women in Leadership initiatives that offer targeted training and mentorship to accelerate mid-career growth, ensuring women are not just hired, but equipped to lead.
Solutions most likely to succeed will be those grounded in data-backed methodologies. Beyond disaggregated gender data, what India needs today is a framework that translates insights into action, enabling organisations to set measurable targets and drive real change - create an ecosystem that supports women's entry, retention, advancement, and return to work. Without this, tracking or sustaining progress will remain elusive. The writing on the wall is clear: women must be at the centre of India's growth story. As we move toward Viksit Bharat, unlocking the gender dividend is not optional—it is an economic imperative.
This article is authored by Pooja Sharma Goyal, Founding CEO, The Udaiti Foundation.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
27-05-2025
- Mint
NatWest Gets Ready for Life After UK Government Ownership
Freed from the clutches of government ownership, NatWest Group Plc is getting ready to chart its own course for the first time in almost two decades. The UK has less than 1% remaining of its crisis-era holding in the lender and could sell out any day now. While the moment is mostly symbolic for Chief Executive Officer Paul Thwaite and Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite, getting the government off the shareholder register will be the final step in shedding NatWest's reputation as a beleaguered bank that was almost destroyed by an acquisition spree 17 years ago. The pair, who have steered the company as the government rapidly sold off its stake that was £9 billion in size roughly two years ago, are already building on the firm's shift from recovery to expansion. They've acquired the majority of J Sainsbury Plc's banking assets. They picked up a mortgage portfolio from Metro Bank Holdings Plc in a £2.5 billion deal last year. And, more recently, they reportedly showed interest in Banco Santander SA's UK business. In addition, they've crafted plans to go after a wider set of affluent Britons in the wealth management business. They're also seeking a major role in bankrolling ambitious infrastructure projects that Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government is planning to boost the economy. 'From an acquisition perspective, if there's the ability to add scale, add capability – we'll look at it,' Thwaite told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual shareholder meeting in April, while cautioning that any deals aren't likely to transform the bank's overall direction and that the firm will remain disciplined. 'Rick and I remain very ambitious for the business.' Thwaite said the bar for further acquisitions remains very high and won't take the bank into any new businesses or geographies. The Santander bid, for instance, would have only given the bank a greater presence in the UK consumer banking scene it already dominates. 'We're not looking to change the direction of the bank or anything like that,' he said. 'It's a brilliant bank, it has three great businesses, it has lots of potential to grow. In some ways, boring is good in banks.' In many ways, the British government rescued a very different bank than the NatWest of today. Back then, the group was known as Royal Bank of Scotland, with a £2.2 trillion balance sheet and nearly 200,000 staff around the world — the result of RBS buying NatWest around the turn of the millennium, before it swallowed ABN Amro's investment bank in 2007. The ABN Amro deal, which executives struck just months before the start of the financial crisis, was subsequently described as 'the one distinguishing feature in the catalogue of shame, in which all bankers sit at the moment' by RBS's then-deputy CEO Gordon Pell. In a series of emergency cash injections, Westminster became the majority shareholder in NatWest, ultimately controlling 84% as UK taxpayers shouldered the nearly £46 billion bailout bill. Without the rescue, the government feared contagion that could have destabilized the rest of the financial system. While fellow bailout recipient Lloyds Banking Group Plc regained its private status in 2017 and left the Treasury a windfall of £894 million, NatWest proved to be a different story as the high-street lender spent years struggling to improve its profitability. Even after the final sale, the government will be roughly £10 billion in the red on its support package for the bank, according to Bloomberg calculations. 'It was hard to know what the dimensions were of the crisis you were trying to fix,' Stephen Hester, who stepped in as chief executive of the lender in 2008, recalled in an interview. 'The financial world was coming apart at the seams.' During Hester's tenure the bank cut more than 39,000 jobs and exited more than 20 countries, while facing years of legal proceedings for its role in the Libor-rigging scandal. Under European state aid rules, it was required to sell its payments unit WorldPay, missing out on billions of pounds of value growth within a few years of the disposal. At the start, the political scrutiny was intense, he said. 'In the first six to 12 months of the crisis, there was a huge amount of partnership between politicians and me and the bank because we were all trying to deal with the crisis as best we could,' Hester said. 'As things calmed down, the differences between the political agenda and the rational business agenda started to increase.' During the 2010s, the restructuring continued under CEO Ross McEwan and Chairman Howard Davies. By 2023, which was Davies's final full year as chair, the bank booked a pretax profit of £6.2 billion – a testament to how far it had come since suffering losses of £41 billion in 2008. The majority of those earnings came from domestic retail and commercial banking, after the group dropped most of its investment banking operations. Now, the NatWest balance sheet is just £708 billion, with a headcount that's less than a third of the number during its heyday. Some of the retrenchment was in lockstep with other banks, even those that didn't receive bailouts, as the entire industry fell into line with a global crackdown on practices seen as too risky. Barclays Plc, for instance, escaped without a state rescue but still disposed of several 'non-core' units. Yet for NatWest in particular, it was clear the UK government was watching. Take bonuses: in 2011, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne stressed that he expected the firm to rein in awards and 'should be a back-marker in the industry, instead of the front-runner it once was.' The bank duly cut its bonus pool. Hester waived a bonus in 2012 after a row in the House of Commons over his pay, and every post-crisis CEO until Thwaite has forfeited some element of their awards over the years. Just as the improving performance was taking the heat off the lender, NatWest got enmeshed in a political controversy, complicated further by the government's presence on the shareholder register. In 2023, wealth subsidiary Coutts's decision to drop right-wing politician Nigel Farage as a client kicked off a firestorm, eventually forcing then CEO Alison Rose — Thwaite's predecessor — to resign. Davies, for his part, came under criticism from politicians for backing Rose, whose departure came after she briefed a journalist on the matter. Today, he says, he would do nothing different. 'The board made what I thought were reasonable decisions and the regulators didn't contest that,' Davies said. 'It was unfortunate' that the state was still a controlling shareholder and 'it was difficult for them to say nothing. I hope they would not take the same interest in it now as they did then,' he added. Farage settled with NatWest in March. A month later, the bank's shares jumped to a 14-year-high after its results beat estimates in the first quarter, despite the headwinds the global economy faces. The government's selloff has accelerated in the past year, taking advantage as higher interest rates buoyed financial stocks. The sales, though, crystallized losses on the rescue, with NatWest shares only breaking above the roughly 500 pence-per-share initial cost of the bailout a few weeks ago. 'I know it's best to sell into a rising market but the sales have been much too speedy in recent years, in my view, and that's another taxpayer cost,' said Philip Hampton, who chaired the bank until 2015. 'On an individual note, I think Alison Rose was very badly treated, which confirms again how cheaply political government ownership can be.' With assistance from Joe Mayes, Harry Wilson and Jack Witzig. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hindustan Times
03-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Unleashing India's gender dividend: Dismantling demand-side barriers
India's ambition to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047 is set against a huge opportunity provided by the country's demographic dividend - its large working-age population. Often overlooked in India's demographic dividend, however, is its 'gender dividend'—the economic potential of 196 million employable women currently outside the workforce. This underleveraged asset is crucial to India's growth ambitions, but the window to act is narrowing as fertility rates drop and the demographic advantage begins to fade. While the FY23-24 female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) of 41.7% suggests improvement, as against 37.0% reported in FY22-23, much of it stems from informal and unpaid work. Systemic barriers continue to block women's entry, retention, and advancement in formal employment. Women's economic participation is not just a social imperative—it is fundamental to securing India's future prosperity. The real question isn't why women aren't working, but why so many are kept out of the workforce despite being willing, educated, and skilled. The challenge lies primarily in the demand-side barriers that remain deeply embedded within corporate structures. Barriers largely stem from inadequate workplace policies—such as flexible work, biased hiring practices—and poor infrastructure for safe housing, mobility, and workplace design. While supply-side challenges also exist, global evidence from China and Malaysia shows that dismantling structural demand-side barriers significantly boosts women's economic participation. Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district is a local example of how targeted interventions can transform gender outcomes. Once struggling with low female literacy (57%), child marriages, and a skewed sex ratio, industrial investments and schemes like Vidiyal Payanam, offering free transportation for women workers, and efforts to provide career guidance and address safety concerns resulted in a complete turnaround. As of 2022-2023, there has been an 89% rise in girls' enrollment in higher education (2022–23) and an increase in the average age of marriage from 14 to 21 years. Workplaces have traditionally been designed around men's needs, limiting women's ability to balance professional and personal responsibilities. The lack of flexibility remains a major barrier, especially for women with caregiving roles. Without options like remote or part-time work, many are excluded altogether. An Udaiti study, From Intent to Practice: Fostering Gender Inclusive Workplaces, found that while 73% of hiring managers report setting gender diversity goals, only 21% have implemented concrete strategies. This gap between intent and action highlights the need for workplaces that reflect women's realities. NatWest, for instance, allows employees to balance working from home and the office, requiring them to be in the office a minimum of 40% of the month, and provides other flexible work options like part-time work and phased return after parental leave. Second, unconscious bias in hiring and promotion continues to perpetuate gender disparities. While women's workforce participation has improved, leadership representation remains low. According to a 2024 LinkedIn and The Quantum Hub report, women hold just 18.3% of senior leadership roles and 15.3% of C-suite positions, slightly down from 2023. Biases—such as gendered job descriptions and subjective evaluations—hinder progress. Solutions like unconscious bias training, neutral job postings, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven hiring tools are critical. Companies like Hindustan Unilever and Sony Pictures Networks India are leading efforts, with Sony doubling referral rewards for women and rolling out bias training. Another critical area lies in creating pathways for women to return to work after career breaks. McKinsey research shows women face significant hurdles re-entering the workforce post-maternity or caregiving, impacting career progression. Returnship programmes are key solutions. Wipro's 'Begin Again' programme has achieved a 99% return rate for women after maternity leave. Amazon India's Rekindle programme has helped over 200 mid-level women executives rejoin in 2023 alone. Such initiatives are vital to normalising career breaks as natural, not penalising, phases in women's professional journeys. Finally, companies must take a systematic approach to women's career progression. While many focus on hiring, few have clear strategies to advance women into leadership. Despite being more employable than men, women face barriers in male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing. Leadership development programs tailored to women's needs—mentorship, sponsorship, and stretch assignments—are essential. Companies like Infosys and Genpact have launched Women in Leadership initiatives that offer targeted training and mentorship to accelerate mid-career growth, ensuring women are not just hired, but equipped to lead. Solutions most likely to succeed will be those grounded in data-backed methodologies. Beyond disaggregated gender data, what India needs today is a framework that translates insights into action, enabling organisations to set measurable targets and drive real change - create an ecosystem that supports women's entry, retention, advancement, and return to work. Without this, tracking or sustaining progress will remain elusive. The writing on the wall is clear: women must be at the centre of India's growth story. As we move toward Viksit Bharat, unlocking the gender dividend is not optional—it is an economic imperative. This article is authored by Pooja Sharma Goyal, Founding CEO, The Udaiti Foundation.
New Indian Express
28-04-2025
- New Indian Express
Udhayanidhi lays foundation for Rs 82 crore projects; inaugurates hockey stadium work in Coimbatore
COIMBATORE: Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin laid the foundation stone for 132 new projects worth Rs 82.14 crore including the construction of a 6,500-sqm international standard hockey stadium with artificial turf at a cost of Rs 9.67 crore in Coimbatore on Sunday. At an event held in RS Puram, he also inaugurated 54 completed projects worth Rs 29.99 crore and distributed welfare assistance worth Rs 239.41 crore to 25,024 beneficiaries. Speaking at the event, Udhayanidhi said the DMK government has been implementing welfare schemes for all sections of society. 'Women have made over 700 crore free trips using Vidiyal Payanam scheme. Under Puthumai Penn scheme, a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 is provided to 3.5 lakh women,' Udhayanidhi said. He added that as per the announcement made by Chief Minister MK Stalin, applications will be collected from women who have been left out of the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme from July. Udhayanidhi also inaugurated a Rs 10.36-crore automatic paneer plant with a production capacity of two tonnes per day at the Coimbatore District Cooperative Milk Producers Union. He distributed welfare assistance worth Rs 13.73 crore to 2,240 members of women self-help groups. Minister for Electricity V Senthil Balaji (who later resigned) and Minster for Human Resources Management Kayalvizhi Selvaraj were present.
