
Average earnings of urban employee in India 2018-20, by gender
Urban versus rural employment
The gender gap in salaries was more prominent in rural areas, where, the male workers earned nearly an average of 1.5 times more. However, urban employees just earn a few thousands more than their rural counterpart, while, the cost of living in cities is twice as expensive as villages. Moreover, a majority of the Indian households belonged to the middle-income bracket and this is expected to increase in the future.
Wage disparity
Wage inequalities are present in almost every sector and widens with higher skill levels. With the evident gender disparity in the country, women with lower educational qualifications, such as a high school diplomas continue working despite the pay gap. This is among women who primarily come from the lower economic sector. Moreover, the social mobility index for fair wage distribution was 17.8 as of 2020, indicating a need for improvement.