In News

A study shows the link between India’s low rate of female labour participation and the threats women face.

Labour Force Participation in India

• India’s female labour force participat ion rate (FLFPR) is a puzzling feature of its economy. Though output has more than doubled and the number of working-age women has grown by a quarter over the last two decades, the number of women in jobs has declined by 10 million.
• India neared gender equality at the primary level about a decade after the enactment of the Right to Education Act, 2009. Between 2011 and 2019, there has been an increase in the rate of women enrolling in higher education.
• With more women pursuing higher education, a larger number of women is also expected to enter the job market.

Factors responsible for Women’s market choices

• Domestic responsibilities and the burden of unpaid care.
• Occupational segregation and limited opportunities to enter non-traditional sectors
• Inadequate supportive infrastructure such as creches or piped water and cooking fuel Lack of safety and mobility options The interplay of social norms and identities
• Crimes against women and girls (CaW&G); it is arguably the most prevalent barrier to women’s equal participation in and contribution to society.
• While violence against women and girls is one among several barriers that restrict their mobility and reduces the likelihood of their labour force participation

Crime Against Women

• In 2020, Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) undertook research to understand why lack of safety affects the participation of women in the labour market.
• The research analysed data from Crime in India published by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2011 and 2017.
• The study looked at crimes that deter women from stepping out to work and raise perceptions of lack of safety; these are rape, kidnapping and abduction (K&A), and sexual harassment and molestation.
• It was found that while the all-India FLFPR saw an 8 percentage-point decline, the rate of CaW&G more than tripled to 57.9%.
• State-level data suggests that K&A can be considered a strong factor that can influence women’s willingness and ability to step out for work.
• It discourages women from participating in the workforce.
• The results for crimes of rape, molestation and sexual harassment show unexpected results, with a positive correlation suggesting that an increase in the crime rate is associated with an increase in the FLFPR.

Way Forward

• We need a comprehensive mechanism that involves the state, institutions, communities and households to address this challenge.
• Adopting a ‘SAFETY’ framework—focused on Services, Attitudes, Focus on community, Empowerment of women, Transport and other infrastructure, and Youth interventions—can be a critical element in framing policies and interventions to stop crimes against women and girls.
• Keeping women locked indoors is absolutely the wrong policy for multiple reasons; most of all it fails in its stated objective, i.e. to protect them from violence.
• Staying indoors is not what the women need, but a better policy approach and access to job opportunities and self-reliance is required to keep them safe inside and outside the house.
• Achieving gender equality could annually add $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025. This opportunity predominantly hinges on women participating in the labour force in greater numbers.