India, Oct. 25 -- Here is a contradiction that sits at the centre of young India's relationship with gender. Female labour force participation has risen from 30% in 2019-20 to 40% in 2025, the sharpest increase in a decade. More young women are in college, in jobs, and in professions their mothers never entered. At the same time, a 2026 Ipsos survey across 29 countries found that 31% of Gen Z men globally agree that a wife should always obey her husband. Only 13% of Baby Boomer men said the same. The generation that grew up with the most gender-equal messaging in history is producing the most gender-divided attitudes in decades.

India is not immune to this. It is, in many ways, the sharpest example of it.

According to the Periodic Labou...