🚨 India’s Slide in the Global Gender Gap Index Is More Than a Statistic—It’s a Warning for Our Economic Future
The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report drops India two spots to 131 / 148. That slight movement masks a far deeper fault‑line that can’t be ignored:
| Dimension | Rank | What It Means |
| Political Empowerment | 69 | Quotas & electoral reforms are paying off. |
| Educational Attainment | 110 | Enrolment gains, but quality & continuity lag. |
| Economic Participation & Opportunity | 144 | One of the world’s widest wage & labour‑force gaps. |
| Health & Survival | 143 | Skewed sex ratio; 57 % of women 15‑49 are anaemic. |
Why this matters
Structural bias is stalling growth.
Women earn ≈⅔ less than men and shoulder most unpaid care work.
Informal, unprotected jobs limit social‑security coverage and up‑skill opportunities.
A demographic time‑bomb is ticking.
By 2050, India’s senior‑citizen share will double. Today’s excluded women become tomorrow’s dependents, inflating the dependency ratio and shrinking our demographic dividend.
Societal health is economic health.
Persistent anaemia, maternal mortality and gender‑skewed life expectancy erode productivity and workforce resilience.
What leaders can do—starting now
Run mandatory gender‑pay audits and close gaps with transparent, time‑bound roadmaps.
Invest in women’s health (iron & folic‑acid programmes, reproductive care) as economic infrastructure.
Reward enterprises that formalise women’s workforces with EPF/ESI coverage and mentor‑ship pathways.
Scale flexible & remote‑first models plus quality childcare—especially in MSMEs and agri‑value chains.
Mainstream gender targets into PLI schemes, urban‑employment missions and skilling budgets.
Collect better data. Granular, real‑time dashboards drive accountability far better than annual reports.
Bottom line: Political representation without economic and health security is hollow progress. Closing India’s gender gap is not CSR—it’s core strategy for sustaining 7 %+ GDP growth, safeguarding our ageing future, and unlocking the next trillion‑dollar opportunity.
Let’s treat the Gender Gap ranking as the red flag it is and commit—boardrooms, cabinets and communities alike—to policies that put women’s lives, labour and leadership at the centre of India’s growth story.
#GenderGap #WEF #India #GenderEquality #WomenInWorkforce #InclusiveGrowth #Leadership #DiversityAndInclusion #SDG5 #FutureOfWork
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