Much concern is voiced about the low labour force participation of Indian women. But East Asian manufacturing assembly lines, that largely employed women, improved their work participation. So work participation is higher in rural than in urban areas and it fell in post-reform India as incomes rose. The 2022-23 Report shows it at 37 per cent (urban 25.4 per cent, rural 41.5 per cent) in 2023, risen from a 2017-18 low of 23.3 per cent (urban 20.4 per cent, rural 24.6 per cent). It is not only employers and patriarchs that have distorted perceptions; women also do in self-reinforcing traps.

Source: The Hindu January 14, 2024 22:24 UTC