New Delhi: Maternity breaks emerged as the single biggest reason for gender pay gap in India in a survey of 20,000 job seekers conducted by job platform Naukri.

The survey, conducted across 80 industries and eight cities, revealed that nearly 45% of the respondents believed the gender pay gap to be more than 20%, with 51% respondents attributing it to maternity leaves. Another 27% identified bias in the workplace as the primary cause for the gap.

Sectors that reported the highest prevalence of gender pay gap were  IT (56%), pharma (55%), and auto sectors (53%). This was followed by real estate (21%), FMCG (18%), and banking (12%). 

Respondents identified IT hubs like Hyderabad (59%) and Bengaluru (58%) as regions most likely to have a gender pay gap.

In terms of a professional’s work experience, half the respondents with over 10 years of experience believed the pay gap to be above 20%, with the gap being most acute in aviation (57%), education (52%) and IT (50%) according to them. 

Respondents from traditional sectors like oil and gas and retail believed the pay gap to be negligible.

Over a third of the respondents (34%) believed promotions and pay hikes should be based strictly on merit. Another 27% believed that bias-free hiring practices and transparency in pay were key solutions to solving the gender pay gap.

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