Increased participation of women employees in economic activity: Employment index has shown improvement in the last 6 years

A decline in the unemployment rate, an increasing trend of educated women in the workforce, and a steady increase in income in the employment category. The participation of the female labour force in rural areas has increased exponentially due to increased participation in economic activities

The official data source of employment/unemployment index in India is the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. The PLFS data shows that the Indian labour market index has improved in the last six years, as shown below:

Labour population ratio (WPR): From 46.8% in 2017-18 to 58.2% in 2023-24.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): Increased from 49.8% to 60.1% during the same period.

Unemployment rate (UR): Declined sharply from 6.0% to 2% to improve job availability and economic stability
Advanced Women Employment Index: PLFS, data show that the Women’s Employment Index has increased, showing significant progress in women’s participation in economic activities across various categories, including rural and urban areas. According to the PLFS, the rural FLFPR increased by 23 per cent between 2017-18 and 2023-24 (24.6 per cent in 2017-18 and 47.6 per cent in 2023-24), indicating an increased contribution of women to rural production. It is also believed that this data is now being well assessed by the PLFS survey.

WPR for women: From 22% in 2017-18, it has increased to 40.3% in 2023-24.

LFPR for women: increased from 23.3% to 41.7%;

Unemployment rate: Reduced from 5.6% to 3.2%.

[Note: In this context, to give more examples from the Economic Survey 2023-24, the potential for an increase in rural FLFPR does not hold much significance as the catastrophic FLFPR peaked during Covid-19 and should have declined later, rather than steadily increasing since 2017-18.]
Improving trends for educated women in the workplace: According to PLFS data, about 39.6 per cent of the total women with post-graduate and above education in 2023-24 are working, up from 34.5 per cent in 2017-18.

Similarly, in 2023-24, 23.9 per cent of the total women with higher secondary education were in the workforce, compared to 11.4 per cent in 2017-18.

In addition, in 2023-24, about 50.2 per cent of the total women who have studied up to the primary level were employed, compared to 24.9 per cent in 2017-18.

Employment growth of self-employed: The PLFS data for 2023-24 compared to 2018-19 shows that there has been a steady increase in the earnings of women self-employed workers.

Reasons for staying out of the workplace as per PLFS data include:

Education as an important factor: a significant portion of women (37.94%) cited continuing education as the primary reason for staying away from the workplace, which reflects a focus on higher qualifications;

Domestic Commitment: AGovernment initiatives to support women’s participation in economic activities:

The NITI Aayog report notes that self-employment among rural women has taken place in various sectors where government support is prominent. At the national level, 70 central schemes of 15 ministries focus on helping entrepreneurs. This effort is being led by the Ministry of MSME, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Skill Development.

At the state level too, more than 400 state-level schemes are providing support to the industry. All these initiatives are helping rural women move forward in various fields.

Apart from this, the government has implemented various schemes and programs to improve the employment of women workers, the most promising of which is the Skill India Mission. Promoting self-employment for women through initiatives like ‘Stand up India’ is the priority area of the government that provides loans to women, including marginalised communities. About 9 crore . read more