Kunal Shah, the founder and CEO of CRED, recently shared his take on Indian economic habits and societal dynamics, particularly highlighting a perceived lack of understanding of the "time value of money" and low female labour participation. Speaking to Forbes, Shah said that most Indians don't understand time value for money.
"Time value for money is an interesting concept that doesn’t exist for most Indians," he told the publication. Contrasting this with the American mindset, where even those earning a million dollars intuitively understand their hourly salary, whether from mowing lawns or high-level jobs, Shah added, "In India, you ask anyone what their salary per hour is, and they have no clue." This, he believes, leads to "an extraordinary amount of… let’s call it time wasting. People who make Rs 10,000 an hour, spend an hour trying to save Rs 500 on a flight ticket."
Gender participation and economic growth in comparison to China
The CRED CEO also recounted a striking observation from a visit to China. "Every meeting I went to had more women than men. And this especially in product tech companies," he revealed. This stark contrast led him to a critical realisation about India's economic future. "I realised that the data was quite bleak for India, that female participation in labour was extremely low. I realised that our per capita income cannot grow with one gender working."
He further suggested a unique dynamic shaped by this imbalance: "If one gender drives the income of a household, it becomes a certain type... By the way it creates this unique dynamic that divorce rates are lower in economies where females have lower financial independence... I am a firm believer that the country will not get to prosperity with one gender contributing alone."
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