Abstract
India’s low (and declining) female labour force participation rate of 27 per cent has been the subject of much exploration and discussion. What is remarkable is that this low rate of participation is seen even lower in urban areas than in rural areas, which is in sharp contrast to the widespread belief that urbanization results in more opportunities, especially for women. Some states fare worse than others—Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have low female participation rates as compared to say, Tamil Nadu. However, almost every state in India is recording a decline in the latest National Household Survey.
What is contributing to this trend? Have jobs suddenly dried up? Are women spending more time in education and thus delaying their entry to the job market? Are educated women not finding the right fit? Are there any additional factors determining this downward slide? Several explanations have been offered, but additional research is needed to assess these drivers. Factors include the large amount of unpaid care and housework that women perform (even when not in the formal workforce), the role of caregiving in women’s employment outcomes, social norms, the lack of job creation that attracts women and female labour force participation declining strongly along the rural–urban gradation. Women are more likely to become and remain unemployed, have fewer opportunities to participate in the labour force and must often accept lower quality jobs due to sectoral and occupational segregation, over-representation in low-paying sectors and lack of opportunities to move from micro/subsistence work to higher value-added activities.
That women’s participation in the labour force is a concern and priority for the Government of India is evident in recent legislation supporting an inclusive and safe work environment. This includes the Maternity Benefits Act, 2017; Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013; streamlined focus on women entrepreneurs through the PM Mudra Yojana; and several such initiatives.
This volume coalesces articles on some of the issues around women’s participation in the labour force. The urban conundrum is examined by Arup Mitra in his article ‘Women and Work in response to Urbanisation: Evidence from Odisha’. Contrary to urbanization increasing work opportunities for women, he finds growth to be non-inclusive and unable to create work opportunities. This results in ‘discouraged dropouts’ of women who find it hard to match their qualifications with what the job market has to offer.
In the same vein, showing the disconnect between aspirations and reality, an article that I co-authored with Garima Sahai examines aspirations of girls and young women in three Indian states—Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Bihar. Based on primary research, the article entitled ‘What women want’ shows how educated girls aspire to white collar jobs and a life quite different from their mothers. Corroborating Mitra’s findings, this study concludes that what the market offers, does not match women’s ambition and should they desire for a career, they will have to settle for a lot less than they aspire to, or stay out of the labour force.
With unrealistic aspirations, an education that does not necessarily match the needs of the labour market, Madhusree Banerjee’s article ‘Gender equality and labour force participation: Mind the gap’ explores socio-cultural norms and mindsets that place women as homemakers rather than breadwinners. It calls for a wider stakeholder engagement and, perhaps, an alliance to change this social norm and facilitate women’s participation at work. And insofar as stakeholders are concerned, changing the notions around where a woman belongs—at home or work—needs active engagement with (you guessed it), men. Malvya Chintakindi’s article based on an assessment of Sehgal Foundation’s work in Haryana, calls for engaging men for a long-lasting and meaningful change in gender dynamics.
Two articles in this volume explore opportunities for women to participate in regional trade. ‘Promoting women’s participation in cross border trade in South Asia’ and ‘Inclusive regional trade: Promoting economic empowerment of women in the BBIN region’ give the same message that women’s participation in intra-regional trade can be a powerful driver of poverty eradication, but, that there have to be strong policy actions to facilitate lowering barriers for women traders in order to promote women-centred trades.
What does it take to mainstream gender concerns at the policy level so that women’s work is valued and given its due? Sona Mitra’s article ‘Planning and budgeting for women’s empowerment in India: A historical process’ examines the emergence of gender responsive budgeting as a part of the process of financing the development of women and how inputs from the women’s movement have influenced gender-sensitive budgeting in India. These experiences can help create favourable policies to facilitate cross-border trade, and indeed, mainstream women’s issues more broadly for an inclusive work environment in the formal sector.
Is there really any hope to bring more women in the formal labour market? Sairee Chahal is optimistic that technology and digital platforms such as SHEROES can help create a favourable work ecosystem in India and solve the problems of gender disparity in the workforce. These platforms can help women return to work after marriage and/or motherhood, they can help female professionals troubleshoot, collaborate and support in furthering their careers and interests. Sairee also suggests that women should stop being invisible and claim the public space. Take over transport and logistics services, take over every bastion that is deemed to be the stronghold of men.
Between the pages that follow, there is enough to ponder on.