Women’s participation in the workforce shapes economic progress and reflects the level of gender equality in society. In India, the relationship between gender and occupation continues to be a defining challenge despite decades of economic growth and social reforms. Women face systematic barriers that limit not just their entry into the workforce, but also the types of occupations they can access, the wages they receive, and their ability to advance in their careers.
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How gender shapes occupational choices and opportunities
Gender influences every aspect of women’s work lives in India, from the moment they consider entering the workforce to their daily experiences within it. According to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey data from 2021-22, around 32.8% of women aged 15 years and above participated in the labour force, compared to 77.2% of men. While this represents an increase from 23.3% in 2017-18, recent government data from 2023-24 shows the female labour force participation rate has risen to 41.7%, yet it remains significantly below male participation rates.
Societal norms continue to constrain women’s professional progress. Around 44.5% of women outside the labour force cite childcare and personal commitments in homemaking as their primary reason for not working. This reveals how traditional gender roles assign domestic responsibilities primarily to women, limiting their availability for paid employment.
The burden of unpaid domestic work represents one of the most significant barriers to women’s economic participation. Women’s unpaid work is valued at 3.1 percent of India’s GDP, yet public sector expenditure on care infrastructure remains less than 1 percent of GDP. A recent study by IIM Indore estimates that unpaid care and household work performed largely by women could be worth between ₹30-90 trillion annually, accounting for 11-27% of the country’s GDP. Women spend an average of 299 minutes per day on unpaid household and care work, compared to just 42 minutes for men.
The persistence of occupational segregation
Women and men in India work in distinctly different occupational spaces, a phenomenon known as occupational segregation. Two occupations with relatively higher concentration of female workers were skilled agricultural and fishery workers, and agricultural labourers, which together constituted 58% of total female workforce, compared to 36% of the total male workforce.
This segregation takes two forms. Horizontal segregation occurs when women and men are distributed differently across occupations. In India, women constitute about 33% of the agricultural workforce but own less than 13% of the land they work on. Vertical segregation happens when women face barriers to advancement within occupations. In India’s IT sector, women make up about 34% of the workforce but hold fewer than 10% of executive positions.
Gender-based occupational segregation creates labour market rigidities that lead to wastage of human capital and reduce economic efficiency. When women are concentrated in certain occupations, the oversupply of female workers in those sectors negatively impacts their bargaining power, contributing to lower wages and poor working conditions.
Urban-rural occupational patterns
The nature of women’s work varies dramatically between rural and urban areas. The female labor force participation rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas, with the distribution of jobs highly skewed toward agriculture in the rural economy. In rural India, 24.2% of women work as self-employed, primarily in agriculture, with 14.2% working as unpaid family helpers.
Urban women face different constraints. In urban areas, 11.0% of women work as regular wage or salaried employees, with 9.4% in the services sector. Urban women are more likely to work as teachers, healthcare workers, and in retail, but these professions often come with limited growth opportunities and lower pay compared to male-dominated fields.
Economic shifts without equal opportunities
India’s economy has undergone a distinct sectoral transformation, moving directly from agriculture to the service sector without significant expansion of the manufacturing sector. This unusual pattern of economic growth has implications for women’s employment opportunities.
Despite this structural shift in the economy, women’s employment has not diversified proportionally. Women workers remain highly over-represented in low value-added industries and occupations, such as agriculture, textiles, and domestic service. The services sector, while growing, has not created sufficient quality employment opportunities for women.
The wage gap compounds these challenges. In the manufacturing sector, women earn only 44% of what men earn, while in the services sector, women earn only 55% of what men earn. This disparity exists even when women possess similar educational qualifications and experience as their male counterparts.
Education alone cannot bridge the gap
While education improves women’s employment prospects, it does not automatically translate into workforce participation. The relationship between education level and female labour force participation in India follows a U-shaped pattern. Illiterate women and highly educated women show higher participation rates, while women with secondary and higher secondary education have the lowest participation rates.
This pattern suggests that education alone does not address the fundamental barriers women face. Women with moderate levels of education often lack access to quality jobs that match their qualifications, face discrimination in hiring, and struggle to balance work with family responsibilities without adequate support systems. Around 37.3% of women with postgraduate education and above are working, but this still reflects significant unused human capital.
Social attitudes and gender norms continue to restrict educational choices as well. The proportion of females enrolled in technology and engineering related courses is far less than that of males, limiting women’s access to high-paying technical professions.
Policy interventions and the path forward
The Government of India has implemented various initiatives to improve women’s workforce participation. The Code on Social Security, 2020 includes provisions for enhancement in paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks and mandatory crèche facilities in establishments with 50 or more employees. The Code on Wages, 2019 prohibits gender-based wage discrimination for the same work or work of similar nature.
However, implementation challenges persist. Many protective provisions have limited coverage, particularly in the informal sector where most women work. Nearly 44.6% of female regular wage or salaried employees are not eligible for paid leave, and 55.7% are not eligible for any social security benefit.
Addressing women’s workforce participation requires a comprehensive approach. Investment in care infrastructure remains critical. If an additional 2 percent of GDP were invested in India’s health and care sector, the country could generate 11 million additional jobs, nearly one-third of which would go to women.
Breaking down occupational segregation requires both immediate and long-term strategies. In the short term, policies should focus on reducing vertical segregation by ensuring equal opportunities for growth across all occupational hierarchies. This can directly contribute to narrowing gender wage gaps. In the longer term, efforts should aim to reduce horizontal segregation so women can explore a wider range of occupations.
Changing deeply entrenched social norms also requires sustained effort. Awareness campaigns, education reforms that challenge gender stereotypes, and visible role models in non-traditional fields can gradually shift perceptions about what work is appropriate for women.
What do you think? How can workplaces and communities better support women’s economic participation while addressing the burden of unpaid care work? What role should policy play in breaking down occupational barriers that have persisted for generations?
References
- https://dge.gov.in/dge/sites/default/files/2023-05/Female_Labour_Utilization_in_India_April_2023_final__1_-pages-1-2-merged__1_.pdf
- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2108281
- https://www.orfonline.org/research/building-india-s-economy-on-the-backs-of-women-s-unpaid-work-a-gendered-analysis-of-time-use-data
- https://www.freepressjournal.in/amp/bhopal/indore-news-indian-womens-unpaid-care-work-worth-up-to-90-trillion-a-year-claims-iim-i-study
- https://iwwage.org/gender-based-occupational-segregation-a-barrier-for-womens-economic-empowerment/
- https://socio.health/women-in-economy/gender-occupational-segregation-job-distribution/
- https://www.adb.org/publications/a-statistical-portrait-of-the-indian-female-labor-force
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41027-024-00512-6
- https://qz.com/india/1404730/the-shocking-gap-between-indias-male-and-female-workers
- https://www.ijrti.org/papers/IJRTI2412024.pdf
- https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s392049debbe566ca5782a3045cf300a3c/uploads/2024/02/20240719952688509.pdf
- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2004075
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