WOMEN
LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION – ECONOMY
News: Women, marriage and labour market
participation
What's
in the news?
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Women’s labour market participation is
often concomitant with enhanced economic prospects and better household
decision-making power.
Key
takeaways:
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From a macroeconomic standpoint, a
diminished level of women’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) has
significant consequences for women’s intra and inter-household bargaining
power, as well as the overall economic progress of the nation.
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The economic impact of the
non-participation of married women in the workforce in India is considerable,
given their substantial representation among the working-age population.
Low
Labour Force Participation of Women in India:
●
According to the International Labour
Organisation’s (ILO) Report, 2019, 1.3 billion women were in work in 2018 as
compared to 2 billion men – a less than 2% improvement in last 27 years. The
report highlighted that women are paid 20% lower than men, as a global average.
●
Women remain underrepresented at the top,
a situation that has changed very little in the last 30 years. Less than
one-third of managers are women.
Reasons
for low labour force participation of women in India:
1.
Lack of opportunities:
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In recent times, rural distress has
affected women the most as income-generating opportunities have disappeared.
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The problem of ‘labour demand constraints’
or the lack of suitable job opportunities is acute for women in rural India,
with a fall in the availability of farm jobs and the lack of economic
opportunities in non-farm employment.
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Mechanisation of farm and non-farm
activities has also reduced opportunities for work.
2.
Women education:
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Data from the National Sample Survey
Office (NSSO) show that education and employment have a U-shaped relationship
(a rise and subsequent decline in employment with the rise in education
levels).
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Work participation drops sharply for women
with primary and secondary education and rises only with college-level
education.
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Further, the non-availability of white
collar jobs, disproportionate long hours and lesser job security narrow downs
the job opportunities for educated women in India.
3.
Unpaid work:
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A 2018 study has found that the time spent
on unpaid economic activities performed at the household and community levels
by women is one of the important determinants of the FLFPR.
4.
Gender bias:
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Constraints in form of casteist and
patriarchal notions of purity and pollution where women are prohibited from
certain jobs, especially in the food processing, sericulture, and garment
industries has added to the low participation.
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Factors like income of other members of
the household, social background and place of residence also add to the lack of
women’s participation in the workforce.
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Moreover, rural societies are segregated
rigidly on gender basis dictated by patriarchal norms that are further
perpetuated by religious taboos and cultural biases.
5.
Changing family nature:
●
Of late, with a reduction in family sizes
and distress migration of rural males, the burden of unpaid work on women has
been increasing disproportionately.
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The burden of domestic work and unpaid
care inhibits women’s ability to acquire skills for better jobs, leading to a
vicious cycle of women being kept out of the labour force.
6.
Under-reporting:
●
Though most women in India work and
contribute to the economy in one form or another, much of their work is not
documented or accounted for in official statistics and thus women’s work tends
to be under-reported.
7.
Other factors:
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Like lack of sanitation, sexual harassment
at workplace, unsafe travelling, poor childcare facilities and care homes for
the elderly etc. has prevented women from working in the industries.
Women continue to face
many barriers to enter labour market and to access decent work and
disproportionately face a range of multiple challenges relating to access to
employment, choice of work, working conditions, employment security, wage
parity, discrimination, and balancing the competing burdens of work and family
responsibilities.