Women's participation in labour

force of India: 2000-2009

By- Deepti Sankar

09CB07
Introduction
• Indian economy post independence – Primarily
agricultural
• Share of agriculture in GDP down to one-third but
still employs two-third of work-force
• Rapidly growing economy post-liberalisation helps
in reducing poverty
• Accompanying challenges include inequitable
wealth distribution affecting vulnerable groups –
including women
Labor market in India
• 3 Sectors of Indian labor market: Rural workers
(60%), Organised sector (8%), Urban unorganised
sector (32%)
• Labor force categories: Self employed workers,
Wage earners, Casual workers & Unemployed
• Self employed: Working in own farm or non-farm
enterprises, most loosely connected to labor
market
• Wage earners: Earn regular wage, not on basis of
periodic renewal of work contract
• Casual workers: Engaged on a day-to-day basis, no
job or social security, closest connection to labor
market
• Unemployed: Actively seeking work, closely
associated to labor market
• Self employed and casual worker status more
prevalent in rural than urban India and among
female than male workers
• Unemployment higher in urban than rural
workforce: 48% of unemployed come from 22% of
workforce
Increase in labor force of India
Division and Distribution Statistics of
Labor in India
Shifting gender roles in labor
• Increasing workforce requirement due to
industrialisation, rapidly growing economy
• Women's class, race, ethnicity etc intertwine with
gender to define job options
• Women started with clerical roles, moved to
service and sales related jobs and now also take up
other high-level white-collar jobs
• Still overrepresented in traditionally feminized jobs
Contd…
• Increasing women participation in labor force due to
shift from agriculture to manufacturing to services
based economy
• Women workforce participation lower than men in
urban and rural areas, rose to 19% in 2004
• Work participation rate rose from 19.67% in 1981 to
26.68% in 2001
• More women in workforce from rural areas compared
to urban areas
Contd…
• Rural women workers mainly employed in
agriculture and cottage industries
• Urban women primarily employed in the
unorganised sector
• 50.16 lac women employed in organised sector in
2005, 58% in public sector, 42% in private sector
• Employment of women rose by 1.1% in public
sector and 2.5% in private sector in 2004-2005
 Genderwise
Distribution of
employment in
women in organised
organised sector:
sector: 2005
2004
Some vital statistics
No. of women job seekers
120

100

80
No. of women (Lacs)
% to total
60

40

20

0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
 No. of educated women job seekers
90

80

70

60
No. of women ('00 lacs)
50 % to total

40

30

20

10

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
• Kerala has maximum women job-seekers (21.1
lacs) followed by WB and TN. Rajasthan has the
minimum (1.0 lac)
• The percentage of educated women job seekers
among the total women job seekers has gone
down from 73.3% in 2001 to 70.4% in 2004
• Manufacturing faced a dip of 1.1% in women
employment in 2005
• Wholesale & retail trade showed an increase of
7.8%
• Mining and quarrying trade showed an increase of
5.6%
• Agriculture and animal husbandry showed an
increase of 5.5%
• Finance, insurance & real estate services showed
an increase of 5.2%
• Electricity, gas & water showed an increase of 1.7%
• Construction showed an increase of 1.5%
• Social services showed an increase of 1.4%
• Transport showed an increase of 1.2%
Women labor
• Women lag behind men in terms of level and
quality of employment
• 25.6% of total female population registered as
workers
• Majority of women workers employed in rural
areas
• Highest women employment in social services
• Lowest in electricity, gas & water sectors
• Government focus to remove handicaps,
strengthen bargaining capacity, improve wages &
working conditions and enhance their skills
• Social customs, traditions and cultural
considerations affect the type of work performed
by men and women in India
• For example, in agriculture, land preparation and
ploughing are seen as the responsibility of men,
and activities like transplanting and weeding are
regarded as women’s jobs
Participation of rural women in India
in labor force(State Wise)
Labor market conditions across states
• Significantly different labor markets across India,
our focus on employment, participation and
earnings
• High correlation between employment rates and
participation rates (95% overall and 99% for
women)
• Low employment & participation rates in NE
states, UP & Bihar
• High income levels but low employment &
participation rates in Delhi, Kerala & WB
• High employment & participation rates in TN, AP,
Karnataka, Gujarat & Rajasthan
• Variation in female employment rates significantly
higher than for men, regional patterns not clear
• Besides NE states, UP & Bihar, female employment
& participation rates are surprisingly low in WB &
prosperous Punjab
• High in TN, AP, Karnataka, Gujarat & Maharashtra
• Variation in female participation rates 15-20 times
higher than in males
Male & female employment rates
across states
Female participation rates across
states
Employment growth: Trends
Annual rates of employment
growth
• Late 90's showed dramatic deceleration but
recovery in 2004-2005
• Better recovery in rural areas
• Still lower than rates recorded in '88-'94
Labor force participation rates
• Follow trend of employment growth rates
• Recovered to levels of earlier decade for rural
males & females
• Significant increase in rates for urban males &
females
• Includes declining rates among youth (age 15-29) &
a rise for older age groups
 Labor force participation rates - Usual status
60

50

40
Rural Males
Rural Females
Urban Males
30
Urban Females

20

10

0
93-94 99-00 04-05

Labor force participation rates - Current daily status

60

50

40
Rural Males
Rural Females
Urban Males
30
Urban Females

20

10

0
93-94 99-00 04-05
Share of casual labor in usual status
employment
• Casual labor has fallen in proportion to total labor
Share of self employment in usual
status employment
• Significant increase in self-employment among all
categories of workers
Employment by industry
• Decline in agriculture as a share of rural
employment, rise in construction
• Decline in trade, hotels and restaurants for urban
males & females
• Rise in construction & transport related activities
for urban men
• Rise in manufacturing (self-employed) for urban
women
Table 2: Employment by industry [per cent of employment according to Usual Status (PS+SS)]
1993-94 1999-2000 2004-05
Agriculture
  Rural males 74.1 53.4 66.5
  Rural females 86.2 85.4 83.3
  Urban males 9 6.6 6.1
  Urban females 24.7 17.7 18.1
Manufacturing
  Rural males 7 7.3 7.9
  Rural females 7 7.6 8.4
  Urban males 23.5 22.4 23.5
  Urban females 24.1 24 28.3
Construction
  Rural males 3.2 4.5 6.8
  Rural females 0.9 1.1 1.5
  Urban males 6.9 8.7 9.2
  Urban females 4.1 4.8 3.8
Trade, hotels & restaurants
  Rural males 5.5 6.8 8.3
  Rural females 2.1 2 2.5
  Urban males 21.9 29.4 28
  Urban females 10 16.9 12.2
Transport, storage & communications
  Rural males 2.2 3.2 3.9
  Rural females 0.1 0.1 2
  Urban males 9.7 10.4 10.7
  Urban females 1.3 1.8 1.4
Other services
  Rural males 7 6.1 5.9
  Rural females 3.4 3.7 3.9
  Urban males 26.4 21 20.8
  Urban females 35 34.2 35.9
Summing up
• We have seen how regional differences in labor-
market outcomes are striking in India, exception to
this are wages which converge across rural &
urban India
• Along with this, unemployment in states explain
low rates of urbanization and economic migration
in India
• Relationship between growth & employment rates
is clear in the long term
• Increasing employment opportunities for females
will help to arrest the decline in female-
participation rates
• Economic opportunities are the strongest factor
affecting female participation
• Steadily growing economy and development have
led to rising female participation in labor force of
India, rise will continue in coming years as women
overcome different barriers
Thank You