Locked Out of Ownership

Why women in India and Afghanistan earn, save and inherit far less than the law, or the economy, would suggest

By Dei Hakim | Meridian Market Review | October 18, 2026

In South Asia, women’s ability to build wealth remains severely restricted. In India, women face barriers such as unpaid care work and skewed property ownership. In Afghanistan, women have been shut out of education and most formal work, essentially erasing them from the economy.

More Than an Income Gap

Gender wealth inequality goes far beyond income disparities. Wealth means ownership of assets, such as land, real estate and savings, that provide long-term financial security. In India, despite rapid GDP growth and government financial inclusion schemes, women still struggle to turn income into wealth. In Afghanistan, the economic landscape changed dramatically after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, issuing decrees that barred women from secondary education and most forms of employment. Comparing these two countries shows how social and institutional frameworks shape the gender wealth gap.

Land and Property

Real estate and agricultural land are the primary drivers of wealth accumulation. In India, even where the law grants daughters equal inheritance rights, patriarchal norms persist, and women own only a fraction of private property. In Afghanistan, tribal customs favor male landholding, and current restrictions have further reduced women’s ability to own land.

Work and Earnings

Income is the starting point for building assets. India’s female labor force participation rate is one of the lowest in the world relative to the size of its economy, held down by the unpaid domestic and care work that falls mostly on women. In Afghanistan, restrictions on female employment have pushed women out of wage-earning roles and into poverty or informal domestic work.

Access to Finance

In India, financial inclusion schemes have expanded women’s bank account ownership and access to formal loans, yet their overall share of asset ownership remains limited. In Afghanistan, women’s access to banking has fallen sharply, partly due to restrictions on their freedom of movement.

Progress and Reversal

India has introduced several reforms over recent decades. The 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act gave daughters equal rights to inherit family property. The Jan Dhan Yojana expanded access to bank accounts, while Stand-Up India supports bank loans for women-led businesses.

Afghanistan tells the opposite story. Between 2001 and 2021, female education and political representation expanded significantly. Since 2021, Taliban policies have reversed many of those gains, banning women from most formal jobs, closing secondary schools to girls and restricting their financial independence.