96. Gender Commute Gap- “WithinHerReach”
There are enough dialogues around women discrimination, gender wage gap, but the list for gender inequality is a long one. Adding to that list, another work-related discrepancy between men and women is the length of their commutes. 3 in 5 women limit their job opportunities to 1km from home. Women are more likely to give up a high paying job because it is not close to their home as compared to men. This is called Gender commute gap.
The gender commute gap widens after childbirth. Women feel the need to work closer to their house after giving birth to a child. This results in a small pool of job opportunities for women to choose from and limited career growth. Centre for Diet and Activity Research, a research unit at the University of Cambridge reveals that India has one of the world’s most lopsided ratios of male versus female commuting. The fact that 45% of women in India don’t travel for their work at all as disclosed by Census data from 2011 is one of the root causes for this disparity.
The gap comes from the difference in the commute time for men and women. Interestingly, OECD Family Database revealed that the time spent on commuting is higher for men with young children than for the average man.
While we have established that women look for jobs closer to their houses, we need to understand what stops them from doing so while still making good money. Offices with high profile jobs paying higher salary are generally established in posh and expensive locality. The houses around those offices are comparatively expensive for a medium income household. The cost of houses is forcing people to live away from their offices and move to an affordable locality. This forces women to settle for low quality local jobs which they are overqualified for.
How does the gender commute gap affect the gender wage gap?
While analysing the drop off in travel time for mothers in the UK, the Institute of Fiscal Studies suggested that, “The gender commuting gap may be linked to the gender wage gap, which also really opens up after the arrival of children in the family. If women take work closer to home because of caring responsibilities, they may be less likely to find a job well matched to their skills or with a high-paying employer.”
Gender commute gap is not talked about often in society. There is a significant need for increase in awareness about the subject. A globally renowned brand, Uber did a recent campaign in India which increased dialogue around the subject. The campaign is called ‘Every opportunity
“WithinHerReach”.’
The brand interviewed various working professionals from different industries. They talk about their dreams and career aspirations and what lengths they will travel to achieve those. The campaign talks about the gender commute gap and its causes. It is a good initiative to make the audience aware. We need such ideas to increase dialogues around the gender commute gap and educate the men and women who are unconsciously contributing to this disparity.
The gender commute gap widens after childbirth. Women feel the need to work closer to their house after giving birth to a child. This results in a small pool of job opportunities for women to choose from and limited career growth. Centre for Diet and Activity Research, a research unit at the University of Cambridge reveals that India has one of the world’s most lopsided ratios of male versus female commuting. The fact that 45% of women in India don’t travel for their work at all as disclosed by Census data from 2011 is one of the root causes for this disparity.
The gap comes from the difference in the commute time for men and women. Interestingly, OECD Family Database revealed that the time spent on commuting is higher for men with young children than for the average man.
While we have established that women look for jobs closer to their houses, we need to understand what stops them from doing so while still making good money. Offices with high profile jobs paying higher salary are generally established in posh and expensive locality. The houses around those offices are comparatively expensive for a medium income household. The cost of houses is forcing people to live away from their offices and move to an affordable locality. This forces women to settle for low quality local jobs which they are overqualified for.
How does the gender commute gap affect the gender wage gap?
While analysing the drop off in travel time for mothers in the UK, the Institute of Fiscal Studies suggested that, “The gender commuting gap may be linked to the gender wage gap, which also really opens up after the arrival of children in the family. If women take work closer to home because of caring responsibilities, they may be less likely to find a job well matched to their skills or with a high-paying employer.”
Gender commute gap is not talked about often in society. There is a significant need for increase in awareness about the subject. A globally renowned brand, Uber did a recent campaign in India which increased dialogue around the subject. The campaign is called ‘Every opportunity
The brand interviewed various working professionals from different industries. They talk about their dreams and career aspirations and what lengths they will travel to achieve those. The campaign talks about the gender commute gap and its causes. It is a good initiative to make the audience aware. We need such ideas to increase dialogues around the gender commute gap and educate the men and women who are unconsciously contributing to this disparity.
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