By Saurabh Garg,

India’s ambition to become a developed country by 2047 depends on inclusive growth strategies that ensure all sections contribute to and benefit from economic progress. A critical aspect of this inclusivity is the participation of women in the labour force. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) is a key indicator of the participation of individuals in the workforce, through employment or active job-seeking.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) has shown that the LFPR for rural women (aged 15 years and above) is rising rapidly, from 24.6% in 2017-18 to 41.5% in 2022-23. For urban women, the LFPR stood at 25.4% in 2022-23, marginally higher than 20.4% in 2017-18. The LFPR for rural and urban men was 80.2% and 74.5% respectively in 2022-23.

According to PLFS 2022-23, 74% of the women workforce in rural areas are mainly engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Other key sectors are education (4.1%), retail trade (3.4%), manufacturing of wearing apparel (3.1%), and construction (2.5%). Urban women are mostly employed in education (12.6%), household activities as domestic workers (11.6%), retail trade (10.7%), agriculture and allied activities (9.6%), manufacturing of wearing apparel (8.5%), etc.

The growth in LFPR for rural women in the last six to seven years exhibits a positive correlation with that of formal institutional credit to self-help groups (SHGs) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) implemented by the ministry of rural development. In 13 states, the women LFPR in rural areas was lower than the national average. Four of these states — Uttar Pradesh (UP), Assam, Bihar, and West Bengal — comprise 44% of the rural women population in India.

Better performance under DAY-NRLM in a targeted approach in these four states could significantly improve India’s women LFPR in rural areas. UP and Assam have a scope to improve SHG penetration and the required monitoring to lower the level of non-performing assets (NPAs) for formal credit to SHGs. In case of West Bengal and Bihar, both the penetration level and NPA status were better than the national average. But better market linkages of SHGs in these two states could lead to improved average ticket size of credits to SHGs.

PLFS 2022-23 data also reveals that women with diploma (vocational training) have a higher probability (37%) of joining economic activity than those with graduate-level degrees or above (26% probability in rural and 29% in urban areas). However, across rural and urban areas, the percentage of women with graduate degrees or above was much higher than the that of women with diploma. A two-pronged approach of penetration of skill training institutes linked to industries and awareness about the effectiveness of such training in employment generation would yield better results. This finding provides credence to the integration of skilling with general education as envisioned under the National Education Policy, 2020. Skill training in agriculture and allied activities, manufacturing of apparel, sustainable food processing, digital commerce, inventory management, quality checking, packaging, etc. will improve employability in rural economy manifold. To improve skill penetration in India, Budget 2024-25 also announced a scheme to upgrade of 1,000 industrial training institutes in a hub-and-spoke model and provide internship opportunities to youth in the country’s top 500 companies.

Another critical factor that could encourage more women to join the labour force is enhanced availability of crèche facility. PLFS 2022-23 shows a significant portion of women were engaged in domestic duties in rural (52%) as well as urban (57%) areas. For more than 80% of them, the reason for not joining the formal labour force was child care or personal commitment at home. Having crèches in the workplace would address the issue to a great extent. This Budget has also focused on setting up crèches, which could augment direct and indirect employment generation.

PLFS does not capture the household activities of women while measuring employment. Their inclusion in the definition of “work” would change the depiction of women’s participation in the labour force in India. As observed in the Time Use in India survey conducted by the MoSPI in 2019, on an average women spent about five hours per day while men spent about 1.5 hours per day for unpaid domestic activities for household members. Women’s contribution to innumerable household activities such as helping children in studies and extra-curricular activities, cooking and serving food, taking care of the elderly, the differently abled or sick family members is huge. It affects the social and economic welfare of the community, and needs to be recognised.

As India undertakes its journey to becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047, data-driven policy decisions are expected to help the country to reap the benefits of development much faster and in a more inclusive way.

The author is Secretary at Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

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