Unpacking the Marriage Penalty in South Asia – Key Insights, Challenges, and the Path Forward

In a powerful scene from Kiran Rao’s “Laapataa Ladies”, while explaining the cause for switching places, Jaya played by Pratibha Ranta, says that she wanted to study agriculture and marriage would have jeopardised her dreams. In a flashback, she is telling her mother that she has topped the exam which would enable her to go for higher studies and marriage might cost her this opportunity.  Her mother asks, “If you go farming, who would take care of the house, your husband?” This scene is emblematic of the norms and prejudices that women face and the choice they have to make between the heart and a career.  

The recently released World Bank report, “Education, Social Norms, and the Marriage Penalty: Evidence from South Asia” underscores this reality with the context of South Asia and is reflective of the conditioning that women in India face when it comes to their careers. The deeply entrenched social norms, conservative gender roles, and family dynamics are significant barriers to women’s participation in the workforce. 

One of the main factors that affects women’s participation in employment is marriage. The report highlights that women’s labor force participation reduces by 12 percentage points due to “marriage penalty” even before childbearing.  Once women have children, the marriage penalty rises by only 4 percentage points, reaching 16 percentage points. This shows that marriage, rather than child rearing, is the primary constraint on women’s labor participation. 

The impact of marriage penalty is evident in both urban and rural areas. The report finds minimal difference between urban and rural marriage penalties, with urban women experiencing slightly higher penalties (13.1 percentage points) compared to rural women (10.4 percentage points).

Education acts as a mitigator to marriage penalty in South Asia. Women with post-secondary education experience significantly smaller marriage penalties. Higher education can reduce the penalty by up to 50%, underscoring the importance of educational empowerment for women in reducing labour force inequality. 

View from India

In the Indian context, the latest data from Periodic Labour Force Survey (2023-24) states that female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) is 41.7 percent, an increase of 4.7 percentage points from the previous survey of 2022-23. But contrary to the World Bank report, this increase in the Indian context is driven primarily by rural women joining the workforce. Labour force participation rate (LFPR) for women in rural areas increased from 50.7 percent in 2017-18 to 63.7 percent in 2023-24 while for their counterparts in urban areas, it increased from 47.6 percent to 52 percent. 

While the increase of more women in the workforce is a cause for cheer, FLFPR is still low. “The gender gap in India’s labour force, attributed largely to conservative social norms and due to both demand side (work opportunities) and supply side (availability of women for work) factors, remains the most persistent paradox of recent decades,” states a report by ORF. India ranks 129 out of 146 countries in World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024 which further emphasises on the long way the country has to go to close the gender gap. 

Challenges Highlighted in the Report

1. Entrenched Social Norms: Social norms continue to dictate the roles of women, particularly after marriage. In South Asia, marriage often imposes mobility restrictions on women, confining them to domestic responsibilities, which limits their ability to engage in the labour market.
2. Lack of Access to Quality Jobs: Even in urban areas where labour market opportunities are supposed to be better, South Asian women face barriers to entry into high-quality employment, partly because many jobs require physical presence outside the home, which can conflict with societal expectations.
3. Gendered Expectations in the Household: Marriage exacerbates gendered expectations, often relegating women to household roles. The report finds that married men experience a marriage premium of about 13%, reinforcing traditional gender roles where men are encouraged to work outside the home while women are expected to prioritise family duties.
4. Weak Childcare Impact: Childcare availability, which could theoretically alleviate burdens, does not appear to have a significant impact on female labour participation in South Asia. This suggests that the root causes of the gender gap are more cultural than logistical.

The Way Forward

1. Educational Empowerment: Education for women is crucial in reducing the marriage penalty. Women with higher education not only have more opportunities in the labour market but also challenge traditional gender norms. Policies that expand access to secondary and post-secondary education for women can play a key role in enhancing their economic empowerment.
2. Shifting Gender Norms: Social attitudes towards women’s roles need to be challenged. Initiatives focused on promoting gender equality within households, addressing domestic violence, and fostering decision-making power for women can help dismantle restrictive norms.
3. Supporting Female Employment: Governments and organisations should prioritise creating flexible and remote work opportunities that allow married women to engage in the labour force without compromising societal expectations. Investment in skills training and support for women entrepreneurs can also empower women economically.
4. Policy Interventions: Policymakers must focus on enacting laws that support women’s labour participation, such as equal pay regulations, anti-discrimination laws, and maternity protections that go beyond just childcare provisions to address the root issues of gender disparity.

The World Bank report sheds light on how marriage significantly constraints women’s economic participation in South Asia, more so than childbearing. The patriarchal structure of our societies continue to perceive women as the “home maker” who should prioritise household responsibilities above their own career growth and aspirations. The path forward lies in not only providing more education and employment opportunities for the “laapata (missing) ladies” but also a transformation in the societal norms that limit their potential. Without addressing these deep-rooted barriers, South Asia risks further deepening the gender divide in the labour market.

Franziska Ohnsorge, Chief Economist for South Asia, World Bank said, “If women’s participation rate in the labour market could be raised to that of men, output in South Asia  and per capita incomes would be as much as one-half higher”.

To create a future where marriage is a choice rather than a barrier to women’s economic freedom, policymakers, educators, and communities must come together to implement meaningful changes. Achieving true equality means ensuring that women have the same economic opportunities and independence, regardless of marital status.