A20 Women & Work

https://thewire.in/labour/rising-female-work-participation-signals-stressed-livelihoods-not-progress  

A lot has been written about the rise in female participation in India’s workforce (Periodic Labour Force Survey, or PLFS, 2022-23). The rise in overall female labour force participation rate (LFPR) – labour force as a percentage of population of all ages – to 27.8%, up 3 percentage points YoY, came largely from the rural areas (up 3.3% to 30.5%).

Some have interpreted the rise in the female LFPR and worker-to-population ratio (WPR) – a major contributor to the overall rise in employment and availability of labour in 2022-23 – as a sign of significant funnelling of economic progress to household livelihoods, particularly for women.

 the rise in overall reported employment and labour force has been driven by women, particularly in rural areas. Occupation status data shows a rise in female workers in agriculture sectors in FY23, both in the rural (+0.3pp YoY to 76.2%) and urban areas (+0.6pp to 11.7%). In contrast, their proportion in urban industry, construction and services has declined. In rural areas, the proportion of women in industry and services has risen even as the agri sector remains the most dominant.

All put together, with changes in the work status of females, predominated by the rise in agri sectors and incomes mainly from self-employment, the rising contribution of females in the labour market epitomises a stressed livelihood rather than a bountiful situation. At a broader level, this trend mirrors an important dimension of the rising ruralisation phenomenon of the declining proportion of employment in the urban industrial and services sectors translating into rising dependence on rural sectors.

by Dhananjay Sinha

25/11/2023