Labour Force Participation of Women in India: Some facts, Some Queries

The plan of the paper is as follows. Section 2 describes the data and definitions used in this study. Fertility and labour force participation are affected by broadly the same parameters. Section 3 looks at the great fertility decline in India and concludes that India is set to achieve replacement level fertility levels in the next ten years and perhaps in the next five. The section presents econometric evidence from NSS surveys to justify the forecast. Section 4 documents the trend in labour force participation rates (LFPR) in India since the early 1980s. It is shown that the LFPR for females in urban India has stayed constant at a low level of around 25 percent for the last twenty five years (weekly status definition). The section documents trends for an “adjusted” LFPR – the adjusted ratio is with respect to women working or attending school. It is shown that this ratio has shown a marked tendency to increase and in 2004/5 had reached a value of 36 percent i.e. 36 percent of women in urban India were either working or attending school; the comparable number was 31 percent in 1983.