13. Women’s Labour Force Participation in India and Continuing Gender Inequality: A Reflection of 15 Major States in India in the Reform Era

Evidence from the literature on the female workforce in India shows that real agricultural wages, expenditure per capita and gross domestic product are trending downwards. Although a number of studies suggest a U-link between women's progress and participation in the labour market. Studies also confirm the relationship between the structure of the economy and women’s economic activity. Experiences in India indicate that women's participation in the labour market has been trending downward from 1993–94 to 2011–12. It is expected that such a high annual growth rate over an extended period of time will generate sufficient employment and reduce unemployment and the incidence of poverty. This paper acknowledged that the participation rate of women at both an aggregate level and in all demographic, cultural and economic variables was declining significantly. This pattern is more marked for the less educated, married women and youth. This paper has attempted to unfold the actuality behind the recent sharp decline in female labour force participation in India, in a period of rapid economic growth, and to identify factors underpinning the long-term drifts in female participation.