According to a survey, 23 per cent of salaried women perceive a gender-based pay gap while 16 per cent perceive gender bias in the workplace in India.

The survey conducted by the rating agency Crisil and DBS Bank India has found that while salary and career advancement ranked as the two biggest factors when selecting a job for 69 per cent of salaried women, 42 per cent of self-employed women prioritised independence and flexible working hours.

Interestingly, remote working is not a high priority among salaried women, with only 3 per cent considering it essential. For self-employed women, focusing on wealth building and identifying a specific market need or opportunity for starting a business ranked as other top parameters, in addition to their independence and flexible hours, noted the survey.

The report is based on a survey of over 800 salaried and self-employed women across 10 cities in India.

Semi-affluent women, earning between Rs 10 to 25 lakh annually, and affluent women, with salaries ranging from Rs 41 to 55 lakh per year, have varying perspectives on the gender pay gap. Affluent women reported a higher perception of the gender pay gap at 30 per cent, while this stood at 18 per cent among semi-affluent women.

A similar trend was seen with the perception of gender bias at the workplace with 30 per cent of affluent women asserting that they had experienced it, significantly higher than the 12 per cent of women in the semi-affluent cohort who had perceived the same bias.

The survey further highlighted that 42 per cent of salaried women in metros face challenges while negotiating salaries.

However, the experiences differ between the eastern and western parts of India. In Kolkata, 96 per cent of salaried women do not face a challenge in negotiating their pay, while only 33 per cent in Ahmedabad feel the same.

In Chennai, 77 per cent of women do not face challenges when negotiating salaries, compared to 41 per cent in Hyderabad, it said.

The study further highlighted the need for organisations to implement family-friendly policies that improve work-life harmony for women with caregiving responsibilities.

In Pune, 35 per cent of salaried women consider sabbatical policies to be the most valuable, significantly higher than the national average of 5 per cent.

Female earners in India’s metros prioritise health despite their busy schedules, with 66 per cent undergoing comprehensive health check-ups in the past year, it said.

Only 32 per cent dine out or order food more than once a week, while just 24 per cent of women spend more than four hours daily on non-office screen time. 32% of married women took 3-5 leisure trips in the past year, which is twice as many as their unmarried counterparts, challenging the myth that married women go for fewer leisure trips than unmarried women.

Nearly half of the surveyed women (47 per cent) were generous spenders, who spend more than 70 per cent of their income. The survey findings further reveal that 39 per cent of women from this segment have high credit card spending in discretionary categories namely travel and shopping, compared to the pan-India average of 33 per cent.