Transportation reduce women workforce - Fusion - WeRIndia

The gender gap in India is widely known to be a big problem. In fact, it can be defined as a major factor which hinders the true potential of India’s economy. According to the McKinsey Global Institute the economic output of India in 2025 can be increased by as much as 60 percent if the women workforce was equal to men’s.

There are many reasons found for the difference in number between men and women in workforce. However, the question is: can the distance and difficulty in commuting to work be a factor for this?

In order to answer this, we need only look at the census data on distance travelled and the mode of transportation by women workers. The 2011 census has collected this data for ‘other workers’ (all workers except cultivators, agricultural labourers and household workers).

In the other workers category, there are 15.7 crore male and 4.4 crore female workers. It was found that one in ten workers has to travel more than 20 km to their work. Another surprising factor is that one in four workers’ method of transportation is travelling on foot. There are only 15 percent of workers who use buses or trains.

There are more women than men when there is less need of travelling and the number declines as the distance to the place of work increases. There are many reasons for this. If we put aside the social barriers, lack of proper transportation plays a vital role in this decline. In driving or riding, number of women is less in rural areas. This causes women to walk. As a result longer distances become tough to reach. The safety of women is also a big factor.

Action must be taken to improve transportation for women. Safety of the women must also be improved. Only when women workforce increases India’s true potential is unlocked.

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