Claudia Goldin wins 2023 Economics Nobel Prize for research on workplace gender gap
- Recently, the Nobel Prize for economics was awarded to Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin for her research that has advanced the understanding of the gender gap in the labour market.
- Ms. Goldin is just the third woman to win the prize out of 93 economics laureates.
Key Points
- Her study showed that despite continued economic growth, women’s pay did not continuously catch up to men’s
- A divide still exists despite women gaining higher levels of education than men.
Explaining the gap
- women often taking jobs that allow them to be on call at home — work that often pays less.
- a woman’s role in the job market and the pay she receives aren’t influenced just by broad social and economic changes.
- They also are determined partly by her individual decisions about, for example, how much education to get.
- The process of evaluating prospects as times change “helps explain why change in labour market gender gaps has been so slow.
Gender inequality
- Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals wholly or partly due to their gender
India and gender inequality
- Indian women’s labour force participation, at just 27 per cent, is ranked 170 out of the world’s 188 economies.
- Not only is Indian women’s labour-force participation among the lowest in the world, research suggests it may be declining.
- This is despite rising education levels and declining fertility.
Reasons behind the gender inequality in India
- Preference for sons
- Dowry system
- Patriarchal mindset
- Poverty and lack of education
Way forward
- Need for policy initiatives to empower women as gender disparities in India persist even against the backdrop of economic growth.
- Improvements in labour market prospects also have the potential to empower women.
- increase in marriage age and school enrolment of younger girls.
- Implement the numerous schemes announced in true spirit
Prelims Takeaway
- Economics Nobel Prize