Low Female Labour Force Participation

• LFPR of women is continuously decreasing. In 2019-20, LFPR among women was just 23%.

• Only in Meghalaya , women LFPR was above 50% .
• Additionally, women are underrepresented in white-collar and blue-collar jobs and dominate the pink-collar jobs (like nursing and teaching).

• Social Causes
  • Patriarchal Mindset  : Patriarchal norms of Indian society and social constraints on freedom of women result in lower LFPR among women.
  • Nuclearisation of families: Childcare and household work restricts woman participation in work.
  • Caste factor: In some upper castes, there is a stigma attached to women working outside the home .
• Entry Barrier: Many sectors, like the Armed Forces, weren’t open to women till recently.
• Lack of Care Economy: India has low levels of investment in Early Childhood Care and education. Hence, women can’t join the workforce due to caregiving responsibilities.
• Unpaid household work : Economists distinguish between production for self-consumption and production for the market. Only the latter is counted as ‘work’. Most of woman are working at home, but since it is unpaid, it is not counted in labour force participation.
• Rising incompatibility of work : Due to structural change in Indian economy , skilled jobs in service and construction sector coming up but  women don’t have necessary skills for these jobs .
• Higher Education :  As women are pursuing higher education, their entry in the job market is delayed (Feminization U-Hypothesis (given below)).
• An income effect of the husband’s higher earnings. Rise in the income of men has resulted in withdrawal of women from the labour market.
• Violence against women forces women to move out of the labour force. E.g.:
  • Violence against woman at workplace restricts their participation.
  • Mode of transportation is not safe for woman restricting their movement. 
• Problems like looking after young child, lack of crèches facility at workplace  etc. force working mothers to quit their job .

With development,

• Women’s labour force participation drops during the initial phase of industrialization (as women don’t have the skills required for new jobs and start to invest in education to acquire skills needed for new jobs). 
• However, in the long run, their labour force participation will increase once a certain level of development is reached.

• Bangladesh Model: Promote the Apparel & Shoes Sector as these two sectors generate the highest number of jobs for women per unit investment.
• Open more sectors for women, like Defence Services.  
• Skilling women so that they can fit in the post-LPG Reforms economy. 
• Promote woman entrepreneurship: Via Standup India and many other schemes.
• Maternity Benefits: The government has already increased Maternity Leave to 26 weeks. Steps should be taken to extend it to the informal sector as well. 
• Self Help Groups (SHGs) like Kudumbshree should be promoted to make women, especially in rural areas, self-employed.
• Japan Model (Womenomics): It includes getting more women into leadership positions. 
• Reshaping societal attitudes and beliefs about women’s participation in the labour force. 
• Recognize the unpaid household work of women in the employment data.