Women own just over a third of deposit accounts, but only a fifth of the total amount of deposits in registered commercial banks, a report by the Ministry of Statistics showed. It also revealed that only one of the bank’s four employees is a woman.
The report pointed out that not even a quarter of the female population holds a managerial position in organizations. Furthermore, their participation in unpaid work is much higher than that of their male counterparts.
The report titled, ‘Women and Men in India 2022’ It showed that the total number of deposit accounts at the end of January 2023 was Rs 225.5 crore, of which more than Rs 79 crore is owned by women.
This comes to around 35.23 percent. Similarly, all the aforementioned accounts have more than ₹170 lakh crore of deposits, of which women hold around ₹34 lakh crore.
Wage disparity
Although the report does not give reasons for the low proportion of women in the total accounts, an explanation can be found in the proportions related to three data sources: regular salary, unpaid work, and managerial positions.
Citing the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) for the period July 2021 to June 2022, the report mentions that although the overall 21.5 percent of workers receive a regular wage or salary, for women, it is 16.5 percent.
Significantly, regular salaried workers may not see a difference in pay, but in terms of casual and other workers, there is a disparity in wages between men and women.
The report also noted that women make enormous contributions to the economy through business, on farms, as entrepreneurs, as employees, or by doing unpaid care work in the home. But they are still disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation.
“Gender discrimination means that women often end up in low-paying, insecure jobs, and only a minority can secure positions of responsibility. The lower job position of women restricts access to economic assets such as loans, etc. All other social barriers limit women in activities related to economic and social policy making. In addition, women do most of the domestic work, often having little time left to pursue economic opportunities,” the report says.
Furthermore, he said that a large proportion of women in the working-age group have to engage in unpaid services for household members who spend more than six hours in a day. This, in a way, limits their access to paid work.
use of time
The survey showed that in one day, the female population spent 305 minutes on unpaid activities, 56 minutes on paid activities, and 1,079 minutes on other residual activities.
According to PFLS data, among civil servants holding managerial positions in India in 2020, 18.8% were women, which dropped to 18.1% in 2021.
Providing the most recent data (as of January 2023), the report noted that of the total workforce at all scheduled commercial banks, about 23 percent of officers, 30 percent of employees and about 16 percent of subordinates are women.
