Closing Gender Gaps Holds the Key to Ending Poverty

351 Million Women at Risk: Why Gender Equality Is Central to Poverty Eradication

The UN Gender Snapshot 2025 offers a grim forecast: without immediate interventions, over 351 million women and girls could remain trapped in extreme poverty by 2030. This damning projection arrives amidst warnings that persistent gender inequalities in labor force participation, political representation, and digital access continue to keep women disproportionately vulnerable. Consider this: while over 70% of men globally used the internet in 2024, only 65% of women did. Closing this digital divide alone could lift 30 million women out of poverty, adding an estimated $1.5 trillion to global GDP within the next five years. Yet, despite the stark numbers, urgency remains absent in policy responses worldwide.

The Policy Mechanism: Addressing Gender Inequality

The institutional framework for gender equality is comprehensive, at least on paper. At the global level, SDG 5 calls for achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Instruments such as CEDAW and the Beijing Declaration aim to reform discriminatory policies and amplify women’s voices. Meanwhile, India’s gender-targeted initiatives include the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, which doubled paid maternity leave to 26 weeks, and the recent Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, reserving one-third of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats for women. Digital inclusion efforts under PMGDISHA have attempted to bridge the internet gender gap, though impact remains uneven.

Yet, these solutions risk underperforming due to systemic gaps. Despite the promise of the Women’s Reservation Act, women occupy merely 15% of Lok Sabha seats today, and their full political representation continues to be contingent on male patronage within party structures. Similarly, the implementation of digital literacy programs faces barriers like inadequate infrastructure in rural areas and entrenched social norms restricting female access to technology.

Why Gender Equality Can Transform Poverty Metrics

The economic case for gender equality is unassailable. Evidence suggests that increasing women’s labor force participation to levels seen in countries like Vietnam, where women contribute to nearly half of total economic activity, could yield monumental gains. In India, female participation in the workforce stands at a dismal 37%—among the lowest in South Asia. Closing this gap isn't just about numbers; UN Women estimates that leveraging equal opportunities could add $12 trillion to global GDP. Such outcomes would help meet poverty eradication goals while simultaneously addressing systemic inequities.

Moreover, tackling unpaid care work—where women shoulder 2.5 times more hours than men—could significantly free up their productive potential. Policies that integrate caregiving into formal economic systems, such as subsidized childcare or tax credits, have been shown to yield high returns globally. For instance, Canada’s childcare subsidy experiment in Quebec led to higher female employment rates, lower poverty levels for single mothers, and even increased government revenue through taxes.

The Counterargument: Structural Weakness and Political Economy Constraints

While the optimism surrounding gender-equal policies is understandable, much of the current discourse overlooks critical institutional and political economy roadblocks. Take the Maternity Benefit Act in India: despite its progressive provisions, compliance is weak, especially within the informal sector, where the vast majority of women work without formal protections. Similarly, the promise of the Women’s Reservation Act is undermined by larger political dynamics—questions about candidate selection and tokenistic representation remain unaddressed.

Climate change and conflict exacerbate these vulnerabilities. Worst-case climate scenarios could push an additional 158 million women into poverty by 2050, yet state responses remain reactive instead of preventive. India's Poshan Abhiyaan has focused on nutritional interventions, but has failed to integrate climate-resilient strategies for women. Without addressing climate-induced displacement and loss of livelihood, poverty cycles for women will deepen further.

Furthermore, the global food insecurity gap—64 million more women than men experienced it in 2024—is both an indicator and a perpetuator of gender inequality. The root causes include male-biased land ownership laws and traditional crops being prioritized over food security crops, leaving subsistence women farmers vulnerable.

What Canada Did: A Case Study in Bridging Gender Gaps

Canada’s approach to closing gender gaps offers valuable lessons for India. Investments in universal childcare and parental leave policies have transformed its labor landscape, bringing women’s workforce participation to nearly 70%. The Canada Child Benefit Program has significantly reduced poverty among women-headed families, demonstrating that well-targeted fiscal tools can fix structural gaps. However, even Canada grapples with challenges like wage disparities, proving that while gender-equity models can mitigate poverty, they rarely erase underlying systemic biases entirely.

Closing Remarks: Navigating the Trade-offs

Given that half of India’s population stands to benefit directly from gender-equity policies, it would be disingenuous to downplay their transformative potential. Yet, bold declarations must be tempered by realism. Without pragmatic state-led strategies to integrate these measures, especially around informal labor and digital literacy, the gap between policy intent and outcomes will continue to widen, leaving millions of women trapped in poverty cycles.

India's next steps could learn from Canada’s focus on long-term economic inclusion rather than short-term welfare. The immediate priority should involve integrating gender-responsive measures into flagship programs like the Skill India mission while addressing vulnerabilities faced by women in climate-sensitive sectors. Tackling gender gaps isn’t just moral justice—it’s economic necessity.

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