Decreased Participation of Women in Labor Force

Decreased Participation of Women in Labor Force

Foreword:

  • Indian patriarchy has such a tight grip on society that even today, women's participation in the labor force is steadily declining. The female workforce which was 27 per cent in the year 2005 has now come down to 23 per cent.
  • Survey shows that in terms of female workforce share, India has slipped to 120th position in the list of 131 countries. Most of the women who are leaving are in middle-level management positions.
  • India is one of the most dangerous countries for women, especially when it comes to the risk of sexual violence, a report shows that India's educated women are leaving jobs at a faster rate than men.

What is Labor Force:

  • Labor force refers to the number of persons actually working or willing to work. It is not related to wage rate.

Status of Women in Labor Force:

  • According to a periodic labor force survey, more than 66 percent of young women in India are handling household responsibilities. Even today, marriage and childbearing remain a well-known norm for the common woman in Indian society.
  • Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have the highest proportion of working women in industry and service sector.
  • Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal also show a large difference in the proportion of married and unmarried young women in non-agricultural sectors.
  • Agriculture is the primary occupation of nearly a third of women globally, including forestry and fishing, but only 12.8 percent of female farmers own land holdings.
  • About 63 percent of the total working women in India are engaged in agriculture.
  • A report by the Union Ministry of Labor states that agriculture employs the largest number of women of any sector in the country, while their estimated participation in manufacturing is 11.2 per cent.
  • Most of the young married women are unemployed in Kerala.
  • A World Bank report states that the rate of women leaving jobs in India is increasing rapidly. Most of such women are not returning to the job again.
  • According to the Annual Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), the estimated percentage distribution of working women in the manufacturing industry in 2021-22 has been found to be 11.2 percent.

Causes:

  • A patriarchal society with gender inequality wants the main work of women to remain within the four walls of the house. There are many such factors like kitchen, child care, hands-on learning etc.
  • Women also often face violence outside the home, which is discouraging them from seeking jobs.
  • According to the latest surveys, despite the level of skilled men and skilled working women being equal in the country, women are getting less paid promotion-promotion opportunities.
  • Globally, more than 2.7 billion women are legally excluded from the same job opportunities as men. Most countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs. There is no law on sexual harassment at workplace in 59 such countries.
  • Globally, women are paid less than men. Even today, most women bear disproportionate responsibilities for unpaid care and domestic work.
  • Estimatedly, if women's unpaid work is evaluated, it can be from 10 to 39 percent of the gross domestic product. About 40 percent of working women do not have access to social security.
  • Worldwide only 58 percent women have access to banks, financial institutions. Violence and harassment in the working world affects women regardless of age, location, income or social status.
  • According to a report of the International Labor Organization, all the women of 64 countries of the world work a total of 1640 crore hours daily without any pay.
  • About fifty percent of the world's 258 million migrants are working women who live outside their countries. Although most migrant women are highly skilled and well-educated, they still face more challenges than others in accessing foreign labor markets. Employment restrictions for migrants, as well as prevalent de-skilling in gender-based labor markets and widespread stereotypes associated with migrant women in destination countries, are negatively affecting their job prospects.
  • Various surveys confirm that working women feel mentally and physically exhausted all the time due to domestic pressures.
  • Traditional co-residence in India is also affecting the employment rate of women. The burden of their domestic responsibilities is becoming heavy. Co-residence of in-laws affects women's employment. Co-residence increases the additional household responsibilities of women. Due to conservative gender-based norms, they are dual in terms of family traditional rights and property ownership. Most of the conservative families are not in favor of employment of women.

Figures:

  • 1.96 crore women have quit or lost their jobs in the last decade. The representation of women in engineering and medical professions ranges from 30 to 45 percent respectively. Women make up only 20.8 per cent of the top rank qualifying at the time of admission to IITs. In IIT it remains only 8-9 percent. Because most of the parents on an average are not in favor of spending money and time on expensive coaching for entrance exams of highly competitive nature for daughters.
  • According to the report of the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE, Mumbai), 20 million women have lost their jobs in India in the last five years. The increasing number of women leaving jobs is indicating a major threat to the country's economic growth rate. India's average monthly female employment rate in the year 2021 was 4.9 percent higher than in 2020, but 6.4 percent less than in 2019.

Its Impacts:

  • This will rapidly promote economic diversification and income equality.
  • There will be a direct impact on the participation of women in political affairs.
  • There will be an increase in social conservatism and crime.
  • The moral degradation of women can worsen the social balance.

Conclusions:

  • The United Nations emphasizes the strong participation of women in the economy by bridging the gender gap.
  • According to a report by the consultancy firm 'McKinsey', if discrimination against women in the country ends, then by the year 2025, the country's GDP can get an additional jump of 1.4 percent with an additional increase of Rs 46 lakh crore.
  • At least 6.8 crore i.e. 41 percent working women may be needed in the coming years. But due to many reasons, a large number of women in the country are disenchanted with jobs, which can create a concern for the country's economic condition and women's empowerment.
  • The country has the largest number of people in the working age group, so India needs a two-pronged strategy to create more jobs and create better employment conditions for women.

source-JANSATTA

                                                  ------------------------------------

Practice Question for IAS/PCS Mains Exam

Write the status of women and the reasons for their decreasing participation in the labor force in the country. Discuss the measures needed to improve it.