India Social Development Report 2023

Description

This report highlights that gender inequalities and women's subordination in India are caused by two formidable macro-structures: patriarchy and the exclusion of unpaid work from the macro-economy. Both these structures reinforce each other and negatively impact women's empowerment. Patriarchy imposes subordination on women and forces a disproportionately higher share of unpaid domestic services and unpaid care onto them. This is unfair and unjust - a violation of basic human rights. Other structures like race, religion, and caste cut across these main structures. The selected papers in this report show how patriarchy causes gender inequalities in all critical dimensions of women's life on the one hand, and how unpaid domestic services and unpaid care sustains the macro-economy and its growth on the other. The contributors discuss pathways to integrate unpaid work with the macro-economy such that the strength of patriarchy declines and at the same time gender equality is promoted. To put it differently, unless the structures are addressed by integrating unpaid work, inequalities cannot be addressed effectively. The report emphasizes that this is the only way to move to real macroeconomics. The papers have explored pathways to break these structures gradually to achieve gender equality and empower women. Though the path is challenging, it is feasible to reach the goal of pervasive gender equality.

About the author: Indira Hirway is the Director and Professor of Economics, Centre for Development Alternatives, and Associate of Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, New York. Major areas of her research interest are development alternatives, employment and labour market structures, poverty and human development, gender and development, environment and development, and time use studies.

Table of contents

1:Introduction, Indira Hirway
Section One: The Major Impeding Structure
2:Transforming Impeding Structures for Gender Equality: Exploring Pathways, Indira Hirway
3:Revisiting the Feminist Project of Gendering Development: Why Framing of Questions Becomes Important?, Padmini Swaminathan
4:Social Norms and Attitudes Towards Women's Entitlement to Land, Govind Kelkar and Pallavi Govindnathan
5:Policy Framework for Women's Economic Empowerment: What is a Miss?, Sona Mitra
Section Two: Patriarchy and Unpaid Work
6:Care Economy in India, N Neetha
7:Women in the Labour Market: Structural Constraints and Solutions Towards Gender Equality and Empowerment, Deepta Chopra
8:Gender Inequality and Intra Household Consumption Disparities, Anuradha Seth
9:Recognition, Reduction and Redistribution of Unpaid Work in India, Indira Hirway and Anindita Ghosh
Section Three: Case Studies: Patriarchy in the Selected Sectors
10:Seasonal Agricultural Work, Gendered Time Use, and Its Implications for Nutrition, Nitya Rao
11:Gender Inequalities in Health and Care, Aasha Kapur Mehta and Samik Chouwdhury
12:Barriers and Pathways to Girl's Education, Geeta Menon and Aparajita Sharma
13:Macroeconomic Policies and Unpaid Work: Trade-liberalization Policy and Home-based Workers, Indira Hirway
Section Four: Social Norms and Violence Against Women
14:Macro Roots of Violence Against Women: Rape Victim's Struggle for Justice, Jharna Pathak and Rahul Sharma
15:Socio-Economic Correlates of Domestic Violence: A Hidden Crisis of COVID-19 Pandemic, Jharna Pathak and Neha Shah
Section Five: Social Mobilization for Empowerment
16:Gradual Revolution: SEWA, An Example of the Women's Movement, Renana Jhabvala and Nitya Nangalia
17:Expanding Statistical Paradigm Mainstreaming Time Use Surveys in the India Statistical System, Indira Hirway
18:Social Development Index 2022, Surajit Deb