India’s income inequality may rise this year: IPSOS

New Delhi: Income inequality in India is expected to rise further in 2021. As many as 61 per cent of urban Indians expect income inequality to increase; however, they also expect pay parity for women with men, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos.

On the other hand, around 76 per cent of Indians predict the global economy to emerge stronger in the current year, and 84 per cent are optimistic that this would be better for them, the survey by Ipsos revealed. “2020 was a difficult year for everyone, with the pandemic impacting jobs, economy, and health. Urban Indians per se have shown a lot of resilience to brace and fight the pandemic,” said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

Now, with the vaccine available, there is a glimmer of hope surging for 2021, to turn the tide and ring in better days for the economy and the citizens, Adarkar added. Three-fourths of Indians expect a successful vaccine for Covid-19 to be widely available this year, while 43 per cent fear about lurking of a new pandemic with a new virus.

Among other estimates, 63 per cent of Indians expect life to get back to normal; 50 per cent of Indians are bullish of the global economy recovering from the impact of Covid-19, and nearly 62 per cent of Indians expect the world to change for the better because of the pandemic.

With the changing world, consumer behaviour is also expected to change. 6 in 10 urban Indians believe they will be spending more money buying things online than spend buying things in stores.

As far as the stock market is concerned, less than half of the Indians (43 per cent) expect that it will crash in 2021. Meanwhile, the work from home culture is expected to reduce the need for the working class to migrate to big cities. Nealy 45 per cent people expect that living in big cities will shrink this year.