Gender pay gap in India refers to the difference in earnings between women and men in the paid employment and the labor market. For the year 2013, the gender pay gap in India was estimated to be 24.81%. Further, while analyzing the level of female participation in the economy, this report slots India as one of the bottom 10 countries on its list. Thus, in addition to unequal pay, there is also unequal representation, because while women constitute almost half the Indian population (about 48% of the total), their representation in the work force amounts to only about one-fourth of the total. History and contributing factors The female labor participation rate in India from 1901 to 1951 was between 28 and 34 percent, which is higher than the level of participation observed in 1990. This rate also varies from state to state. Regions in northern India (which have been observed to be more patriarchal) have lower participation rates for women than the states in southern India, where women have more freedom to participate in the formal economy. SEWA (the Self Employed Women's Association) recently found that the average wage of women workers was Rs. 1815 while the average wage for men was Rs. 3842. Some of the main factors that contribute to the existing gender pay gap in India are: Occupational preferences The rate of female participation in the paid labor market is generally low, and is primarily concentrated in rural areas in the agricultural sector. In rural north India, it has been observed that labor is divided sharply on the basis of gender. Certain activities in agriculture have been assigned specifically to women, like drying and storing the grain, while other tasks like plowing and harvesting are only performed by men. This is a mere preference and not domination. Female labor participation in India has been observed to be higher in sectors involving personal services and care work, and is also higher in informal sectors, especially in agriculture. Studies have also found that more than sixty percent of contributing factors of gender pay gap in India stem from pure labor market discrimination, with the gap steadily decreasing on moving towards higher end of wage distribution, pointing out towards the existence of 'sticky floors' in the Indian labor market. Cultural barrier While social and cultural norms vary from state to state within India, one commonality that has been observed is