World Bank Report Calls Marriage A ‘Penalty’ For South Asian Women’s Careers

For South Asian women, marriage and childbearing have a significant impact on their career paths, often resulting in a structural disadvantage for them. A recent report by the World Bank showed that women in the region pay a ‘marriage penalty’, leading to a sharp dip in their labour force participation by one-third. On the contrary, the report stated that men gain an employment premium upon marriage, revealing how society’s regressive gender roles influence employment culture.

Indian Female VS Male Employees After Marriage

World Bank’s report titled Education, Social Norms, and the Marriage Penalty: Evidence from South Asia, traces some stark differences between men and women in the workforce. In India, the female employment rate after marriage drops by 12 percentage points, even in the absence of children.

This ‘marriage penalty’ paid by women persists up to five years after the wedding. They also pay a ‘child penalty’, which means that childcare responsibilities push them out of the workforce. The report highlights South Asia’s meagre female labour force participation rate, which stood at just 32% in 2023.

Meanwhile, men in India get an employment premium of up to 13 percentage points after marriage, although this advantage erodes after five years. This data shows a significant disparity in how marriage and domestic responsibilities impact career trajectories for men and women in the country.

According to the report, all South Asian countries, excluding Bhutan, are in the bottom quartile of the World Bank’s global sample for female workforce participation. Franziska Ohnsorge, World Bank’s chief economist for South Asia shared her insights on the gender discrimination women face in the workplace.

“If women worked in as productive jobs as men, GDP in the South Asian region could go up by up to 51%,” Ohnsorge noted in the report. She stressed that South Asia, especially India, is doing wonders in the global economy but could be greater if more women entered the workforce.

Women Share Experiences With Marriage & Child ‘Penalty’

To get a deeper understanding of these ‘penalties’ that affect female workforce participation, SheThePeople spoke to some women who shared their first-hand experiences with the biases and societal expectations after marriage and childcare responsibilities. Here’s their experience.

Mohua Chinappa, an author and columnist, shared her experience with workplace bias as a caregiver.

“I recall a project that required me to go into the office on a Saturday, which was an off day. I had taken my child of 2 years age and my house-help so that post work I could run errands with my child. I was sending emails, while my child was with me. My branch head who is male, gave me the dirtiest look for being there with my child in an advertising agency where the casual culture was being threatened by my presence as a mother. It still remains even after 14 years — the feeling of shame, anger and frustration of facing such biases.”

Chinappa pointed out that one major reason women leave the workforce after marriage is the domestic responsibilities they are expected to single-handedly take on.  “[There must be] equality in the division of labour at home, where your spouse and family members understand that your career is equally as important as the man’s,” she asserted. 

Lack of childcare facilities and awareness about maternal healthcare contribute to the ‘child penalty’, Chinappa said. “A lot of big projects which can promise great career growth are not given to new mothers because when you have a young child, you have to go back home early. You may not be able to travel or work really late. There are still very few workplaces that have creches.”

According to a 2019 International Finance Corporation (IFC) report, which studied 255 employers across India, nearly half (46%) said they found it “moderately challenging or very challenging” to comply with the creche provision under the Maternity Benefit Act amended in 2017.

Additionally, the India Employment Report 2024 states that an average young woman in India spent six times more than a young man in unpaid activities as a share of the time spent in all activities.

Sreelekha Menon, a human resources professional noted:

“There is always an untold stigma for women and it is mentally assumed that they are not serious about their careers and career path. I have often heard managers talk about how freshers from colleges are there only for a year or so as then comes the wedding leave, then maternity leave, and then finally dropping out of the workforce. Unfortunately, little does the world realise these are but Hobsons’ choice for most women. Everyone completes their education with high career hopes. Like the dialogue, Tapsee Pannu says in the film Thappad, ‘No one would say that I want to be a housewife when I grow up.'”

Menon also shared that she took a seven-year break for childcare responsibilities, which drastically impacted her career trajectory. “Rejoining the workforce was not easy at all, it took me two years of search to get an even unpaid internship in a small company after having years of experience in an MNC,” she recalled.

She also highlighted the importance of truly inclusive workplaces that go beyond surface-level policies to support women and new parents. She observed that some companies may advertise inclusivity and gender equality, yet fail to meaningfully support women with domestic and caregiving responsibilities.

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