Tamil Nadu women earn just 74% of men's wages: Study

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s comparatively high participation of women in the workforce masks persistent inequalities in wages, employment quality and unpaid domestic responsibilities, with women earning substantially less than men and Dalit women facing an additional earnings disadvantage, according to a study by the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).

The working paper titled, ‘Women, Work and Status: Labour Market Outcomes in Tamil Nadu’, authored by A Kalaiyarasan, Associate Professor at MIDS, was published in August 2026.

Drawing on 30 years of labour-market survey data, secondary literature and the 2019 Time Use Survey, the study examines women’s labour-force participation, earnings, occupational distribution and the effects of state welfare interventions.

The findings present a paradox: TN performs better than the national average on several indicators of women’s employment, but its progress has not eliminated the gender wage gap or ensured that women’s participation translates into better-paid work.

Women’s labour-force participation rate in TN stood at about 43% in 2020-21, against the national average of 32.5%. However, the rate had declined from 54.1% in 1993-94 to 33.7% in 2017-18 before recovering. The paper cautions that the subsequent rise cannot be treated as an unqualified improvement, as it was partly driven by women entering unpaid work during the pandemic, especially in agriculture.

The earnings gap remains pronounced. Women in regular salaried employment earned an average of Rs 12,969 a month in 2020-21, compared with Rs 17,476 for men, meaning women earned about 74% of men’s wages. Among self-employed workers, women’s earnings were only about 37% of men’s.

The disparity extends across sectors. In 2021, women employed in the government sector earned an average monthly wage of Rs 18,857, against Rs 27,886 for men. In the private sector, women earned Rs 10,324, compared to men’s Rs 15,566.

Caste compounds the disadvantage. The study estimates that Dalit women’s labour-force participation was about 50%, against 40% among non-Dalit women. Yet Dalit women in regular salaried employment earned an average of Rs 8,446/ month, compared with Rs 13,905 for non-Dalit women. TN nevertheless has a strong presence of women in manufactur- ing and formal jobs. The paper estimates that TN accounted for 28% of regular-salaried women in manufacturing across India in 2018-19.

Citing an estimate based on factory-sector data, it also notes that 6.8 lakh of the 16 lakh women factory workers nationwide were employed in Tamil Nadu. Women accounted for about 40% of the state’s factory workforce, particularly in apparel, textiles and leather.

Women also constituted around 66% of TN’s government employees in 2019-21, against a national average of about 40%. The author links this representation partly to the state’s reservation policy in government employment for women.

However, employment participation alone does not capture the extent of women’s unpaid labour. The 2019 Time Use Survey, which covered 23,011 individuals in TN and 4,47,250 across India, found that 90.3% of women aged 15-59 per-

formed unpaid domestic services, compared with 24.3% of men. A further 27.3% of women were involved in unpaid caregiving for household members, against 14% of men.

Among those aged 15-59, women spent an average of 231 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services, compared with 20 minutes for men. Women spent 131 minutes a day on job-related activities, against 372 minutes for men. The figures high-

light how unequal household responsibilities restrict women’s access to paid work and income.

The study argues that the decline of traditional employment in agriculture and artisan-based occupations has not been matched by adequate job creation in emerging sectors. It acknowledges that welfare interventions, including free transport and measures that reduce domestic drudgery, can ease barriers to women’s employment, but stresses the need for stronger demand-side policies.

“The rate at which jobs are dispossessed in traditional sectors, agriculture and artisan, has been higher than the rate of jobs created in modern sectors,” the paper says in its conclusion. It calls for greater job generation, stronger labour market regulation, improved skills and diversification of economic opportunities. The central policy challenge is to convert TN’s gains in education and workforce into better earnings, more secure jobs and economic independence.

KEY FINDINGS

• Women’s labour-force participation rose to 43% in 2020-21, against 32.5% nationally, but increase partly driven by unpaid work during the pandemic

• Women’s salary: 12,969/ month, against Rs 17,476 for men in 2020-21

• Self-employment: Women earned only about 37% of men’s earnings

• Dalit women’s salary: Rs 8,446/m, against Rs 13,905 for non-Dalit women

• TN accounted for 28% of India’s regular-salaried women manufacturing workers in 2018-19

• Women made up about 66% of government employees in 2019-21, against 40% nationally

• 90.3% of women aged 15–59 performed unpaid domestic services, compared with 24.3% of men in 2019

• Women spent 231 minutes daily on unpaid domestic services, against 20 minutes for men