The country?s annual GDP growth rate could jump 4%, if more women joined the workforce, states a UN report. The United Nations Development Programme released a report on Monday that has calculated the value of rise in GDP, when there is widespread participation of women as paid labour.
The report states 36% of the women population in South Asia, which includes India as well, participates in the labour force, much below the global average of 53%. However, in East Asia, the figure stands much higher, at 67%. In comparison, participation of South Asian men in the workforce stood at 86.4%.
In India, if women?s employment rate was raised to 70%, closer to the rate of many developed countries, the country?s GDP is estimated to improve.
?Development of a country is far more than GDP per capita. Shaping the human resource is far more important for growth,? said UNDP administrator Helen Clark, during the launch of the report Power, Voice and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific.
Clark added when the reason for slow growth was analysed, it showed that women?s slow progress was one of the factor. Hence, for economic growth, women empowerment is essential.
According to Britannia Industries MD Vinita Bali, the country?s GDP rose by 7.5-9% in last 5-7 years, yet women participating in the labour force has been low. It is not just inclusion of women in the workforce, but the quality of inclusion that matters.
The reason for more contribution by men to GDP is the work done by them is translated into GDP as there is transfer of wealth involved in it. On the contrary, women?s contribution to GDP is less as majority of their work goes unpaid. ?The concept of unpaid work needs to be changed,? Bali said.
Women rights activists from Malaysia Marina Mahathir said, ?Participation of women is not recognised as their contribution comes from the lower strata.?
Lack of women?s participation in the workforce costs the Asia-Pacific region billions of dollar every year.
Clark also pointed out the importance of asset holding, apart from inclusion of women in the labour force. ?More than 65% of South Asian females are employed in agriculture sector, compared to 40% in East Asia. However, only 7% of women in the Asia-Pacific head farms against 20% in the rest of the world,? she added.
The report states that there is a significant link between women?s ownership of land and a reduced risk of violence. In India, 49% of women without property reported long-tem physical violence, compared to 18% of those owning land.