Formal Equality, Procedural Equality and Substantive Equality

Equality is fairness in distribution or apportionment of political, economic, social and legal values such as rights (e.g. right to information or right to vote), opportunities (e.g. opportunity to education, employment, etc.), or outcomes (e.g. equal wage for equal work). Equality can be procedural or substantive. Procedurally, equality stands for equality of opportunity irrespective of the outcome, for example, equality in getting employment or education. Substantive equality stands for equality of outcomes, for example, equality of wage between male and female for equal hours of work. Equality may also be understood in terms of ‘equality before law’ or ‘equal protection of law’, i.e., law treats everyone equally irrespective of caste, class, religion or race. This is formal equality. As such, we have three types of equality—formal equality, i.e., ‘equality before law’, procedural equality, i.e., ‘equality of opportunity’ and substantive equality, i.e., ‘equality of outcome’.