Biggest cities offer better salaries, more regular jobs for women, but stark gender disparity in income favours men, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• Million-plus cities offer more regular/salaried job opportunities for women compared to urban India, with 68.1% of employed women in these cities holding such jobs.
• Despite better job access, the gender income gap in regular jobs widens in million-plus cities, with men earning an average of Rs 7,000 more than women monthly.
• Women's Worker Population Ratio (WPR) remains low at 25.5% in million-plus cities, similar to the urban India average of 25.9%.
• The National Statistics Office's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025 provided these insights, covering 46 million-plus cities.
• A high percentage of women aged 30-59 (67%) in million-plus cities are classified as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training).

Detailed Insights:

• In million-plus cities, 65.1% of women have regular or salaried jobs, significantly higher than the 50.9% in urban India.
• Overall, regular or salaried jobs constitute 58.5% of employment in million-plus cities, compared to 47.6% in urban India.
• Women's salaries in regular jobs are consistently 77.2% of men's salaries in both million-plus cities and urban India.
• Cities like Prayagraj, Srinagar, and Lucknow show instances where women earn more than men in regular salaried jobs.
• Among major metropolitan centers, Greater Mumbai exhibits near gender pay parity, with women earning 98.2% of men's salaries.
• Other metros like Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata show significant gender pay gaps, with Kolkata having the widest among them.
• Self-employed men in million-plus cities earn an average of Rs 33,868 monthly, while self-employed women earn Rs 16,167.
• In the informal economy, male casual laborers in million-plus cities earn Rs 643 daily, significantly more than female casual laborers who earn Rs 434.

Key Concepts Involved:

• National Statistics Office (NSO): India's central agency for statistical information, responsible for conducting surveys and publishing data.
• Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS): A large-scale household survey conducted by the NSO to estimate key employment and unemployment indicators.
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR): The percentage of persons employed among the total population.
• NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training): A classification for individuals, typically young people, who are not engaged in any form of employment, education, or training.