The female labour force participation ratio (LFPR) in India is officially estimated to be about 25 percent, much lower than in Brazil (over 43 percent) and in China (over 60 percent). The female LFPR is the number of women who are engaged in paid work or are looking for work as a proportion of all women of working age . It is estimated to have risen slightly from 22 percent in 2022, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey Report (PLFS) of October-December 2023, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in February 2024.
The LFPR is one of the main indicators of the status of women in any society. Women’s participation in remunerative work results in increased social respect for them. It breaks their isolation from public life and brings them into the wider sphere of social production. It results in greater self-confidence in women and greater resistance to being treated as second-class citizens.
Despite the recent upward trend, India’s female LFPR remains among the lowest in the world. India ranked 127th out of 146 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2023.
Crores of women who are capable of productive work are staying at home because of several factors. One factor is the influence of outdated customs and beliefs, such as the idea that a woman’s place is at home, resulting in many families not wanting their women to participate in paid work. Another factor is sexual harassment and the lack of safety, both at the workplace and during travel between home and workplace. Yet another is the absence of child care facilities. The 2017 amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act mandated on-site creche facilities for companies with over 50 employees. However, there is no evidence to show that such companies are complying with this law.
When women take up a job in spite of all the constraints, they have to bear the multiple burden of working outside the home, taking the major responsibility for raising a new generation and carrying out most of the household chores.
Despite existing legislation such as the Equal Remuneration Act and the Minimum Wages Act, women are paid much less than men for the same work. For example, despite Tamil Nadu having the highest workforce participation of women, the monthly earnings gap between men and women is stark, with women in regular jobs earning ₹12,969 against ₹17,476 for men in 2020-21. It is likely that this gap is even wider in most other states.
Nationally, the average rural wage for men is Rs 393/day whereas a woman worker’s wage is Rs 265/day (survey report titled “Women and Men in India 2022” by the National Statistical Office). Disparities in earnings are observed across casual work, contractual employment and regular jobs. This is a systemic feature of capitalism. Paying women less than men enables capitalist employers to lower the general level of wages. The capitalist class uses the fact that women need to take time off for child birth and new born care, in order to deny them equal pay and equal access to employment. Several studies, like the Oxfam India Discrimination Report 2022, have highlighted the gender pay gap in India, with women facing discrimination in recruitment and pay across the country.
During the budget session, the government claimed a 28 percent increase in women’s enrolment in higher education in the period 2014-15 to 2020-21; however, there is a huge gap in matching job opportunities with educational aspirations. Educated women account for 76.7 percent of unemployed female youth.
Increased educational achievements among women has not led to a rise in their participation in regular salaried work. Data from 2018 to 2022 indicates a predominant increase in self-employment activities and gig/freelancing jobs rather than in salaried work. This is especially true for women in rural India. For rural areas, the PLFS Annual Report July 2022-June 2023 indicated a rise in women’s participation rate and a corresponding fall in women’s unemployment. This was driven by an increase in proportion of rural women under the category of “self-employed”. Further sub-classification of self-employed reveals that a majority of the women were unpaid helpers, i.e., women working in family enterprises without earning a wage. The proportion of salaried workers among rural women has declined as compared with earlier years.
The capitalist system draws women into the workforce in specific occupations when it serves the bourgeoisie. For example, at present, capitalist companies are going all out to facilitate greater participation of women in mobile and other electronics assembling plants. While women are finding more work in such sectors, they face new forms of exploitation and sexual harassment. They are also the first to be thrown out of work when there is a downturn in demand for these goods.
Low participation of women in the labour force is against the interests of women and against the interests of social progress. As long as women’s work is not recognised as socially necessary, they will continue to be denied a say on issues affecting their own lives and homes. As long as women’s role in social life is limited, society is deprived of not only an important productive force but also an important political force for social change.
It is necessary that women step out of their homes and fight for their rights as women, as workers and as human beings. Foremost among these are the right to equal pay for equal work and the right to not be discriminated. These include the right to effective protection from sexual harassment and physical attacks at the workplace and during travel, right to child care facilities and maternity leave. Women must be in the front ranks of the struggle for the liberation of society from all forms of exploitation and oppression.