15 hours Ago By Ambika Pandit
The phenomenon is more pronounced in urban than in rural areas, the study found NEW DELHI: Reinforcing how care provisions at home significantly affect women's choice of entering the labour force, an analysis of government data shows that Female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is lower among households with children under 14 years of age. Moreover, this phenomenon is more pronounced in urban than in rural areas. Also the presence of children affect female LFPR more significantly in the age bracket of 20 to 35 years, compared to later years.
These findings are part of an observation analysis of the Periodic Labour Force Survey from 2017-18 to 2022-23 released last month as part of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) working paper series. The analysis is authored by EAC-PM member Shamika Ravi and economist Mudit Kapoor. The research shows that female LFPR in urban areas is almost always and everywhere lower than female LFPR in rural areas.
"This major gap between rural and urban areas reflects the pressures of household responsibilities," it said. Highlighting a significant resurgence in female LFPR across Indian states, especially in rural areas, since 2017-18, the analysis also brings into focus that married women in rural areas showed higher participation growth compared with unmarried women. There are, however, significant regional and interstate variations.
The overall results also draw attention to the female LFPR peaking at 30-40 years of age and declining sharply after. The male LFPR, on the other hand, remains high (100%) from ages 30-50, declining gradually thereafter. "Marital status is a significant determinant of LFPR for both women and men.
Married men consistently exhibit higher LFPR across states and age groups, while marriage significantly reduces female LFPR, especially in urban areas," the research said. Another striking result which is consistent across states and regions of India is that married men are significantly more likely to participate in the labour force than men who are not currently married and this result is persistent for all ages of men, across all states and areas (rural and urban). The research in its conclusion also highlights there have been numerous govt schemes, especially targeting rural women over the last 10 years like the Mudra loans, the "Drone Didi" scheme and SHGs mobilised under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana.
"Our paper measures the final outcome of these initiatives as a cumulative and significant growth in female LFPR across India and in particular in rural areas. Rigorous research, however, is needed to evaluate these programmes' impact and to explore the persistent inter-state and rural-urban disparities in India's female LFPR," the authors said..
