Why in Broadcast?

• India's score in a World Bank index dropped to 74.4 points out of a possible 100, as the laws that affect the wages and pension of Indian working women do not guarantee them equality with Indian men.

About the Report

• Women, Business & The Law 2023, is the ninth in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and regulations that affect women's economic opportunity in 190 economies.
• This index measures the life cycle of a working woman.
• It is based on eight indicators—structured around women's interactions with the law as they begin, progress through, and end their careers—aligning with the economic decisions women make at various stages of their lives.
• The indicators include: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.

Global Findings of the Report

• According to the report, a score of 100 on the Index means that women are on equal standing with men on all the eight indicators being measured.
• Globally, on average, women enjoy only 77 percent of the legal rights that men do; and nearly 2.4 billion women of working age around the world live in economies that do not grant them the same rights as men.
• In 2022, the global pace of reforms toward equal treatment of women under the law has slumped to a 20-year low.
• At the current pace of reform, it would take at least 50 years to approach legal gender equality everywhere.
• Out of the 190 economies covered in the Index, only 14 scored a perfect 100.
• The 14 countries include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

Key Findings About India

• India scored higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, though lower than Nepal which had the region's highest score of 80.6.
• For India, the Index used data on the laws and regulations applicable in Mumbai, viewed as the country's main business city.
• India gets a perfect score when it comes to constraints on freedom of movement, laws affecting women's decisions to work, and constraints related to marriage. However, India lags behind when it comes to:

• Laws affecting women's pay,
• Laws affecting women's work after having children,
• Constraints on women starting and running a business,
• Gender differences in property and inheritance,
• Laws affecting the size of a woman's pension.

Recommendations

• India should consider reforms to improve legal equality for women, the report noted that one of the lowest scores for India comes from the indicator assessing laws affecting women's pay.
• To improve on the Pay indicator, India may consider mandating equal remuneration for work of equal value, allowing women to work at night in the same way as men, and allowing women to work in an industrial job in the same way as men.