Gender Disparity in Employment and Wages in Rural Labour Market in Odisha: Some Survey Findings and Empirical Analysis

Gender disparity prevails through various attributes, including gender specificity of agricultural operations, discriminating women in terms of wages, and system of wage payments. This paper employed a t-test to investigate the degree of gender disparity in the rural labour market in Cuttack district of Odisha, covering one irrigated village, Bahalpada, and a non-irrigated village Erancha with a sample of 50 female labourers, 20 male labourers, and ten employers from each village, where irrigation was used as the indicator of agricultural development. The results indicated no significant difference in the days of work available to males and females in farm activities in the irrigated village Bahalpada; however, there was a significant positive difference in male-female labour days in agricultural work non-irrigated village Erancha. Despite non-significant differences in days of employment in farm activities, the gender-based wage differentials persisted and were more pronounced in the non-irrigated village than in irrigated village.