Description

Women Rights, Law and Justice
Editor: Prof. Dr. Yogesh Kumar Gupta
Published by Universal Academic Books Publishers and Distributors,
New Delhi (India)
ISBN: 978-81-686113-2-0, 2026

Chapter 8

Women Workers in the Gig Economy in India: A Study of Employment Insecurity, Gender Wage Disparities, and Workplace Harassment

Rizwan Ahmad
Research Scholar, MANUU Law School, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India (ORCID: 0009-0002-9640-5258)

Akhtar Shane
LL.M, Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

Abstract

The high growth rate of the gig economy has changed the labour markets through the establishment of flexible and platform-based employment. More women are also joining the world of gig work in India in the ride-hailing, food delivery, domestic services, and digital freelancing industries. The gig economy has created flexibility and earned women workers an income opportunity, but it has also placed women in a variety of structural vulnerable situations. This chapter discusses the issue of women in the gig economy in India with specific attention to the problem of employment insecurity, gender pay gap, and work-related harassment. It examines the role of no formal employment relations and a lack of labour protection in creating precarious employment among women. The chapter also examines the challenges that women face when seeking redressal mechanisms of grievance in platform work models. Placing such concerns in the context of the wider problem of labour rights and gender justice, the study demonstrates the necessity of encompassing the regulatory policies and enhancing institutional protection to provide women in the gig economy with decent and safe working conditions.

Keywords

Gig Economy, Woman Employment Stability, Gender Pay Gap, Workplace Harassment, Legal Framework.

1. Introduction

Women over the years have been engaging more in different spheres like agriculture, manufacturing, services, and informal jobs. Women workers despite their increasing contribution to the economy are usually exposed to a number of structural challenges such as wage inequality, unsafe working conditions, inaccessibility to social security and accessibility to employment opportunities. Such obstacles are especially evident in the areas where the work is informal or uncontrolled.