Are urban Indian women more likely to participate in labour, compared to their rural counterparts? India’s Public Affairs Centre (PAC) conducted a case study about the barriers and enablers to decent work for Indian women. The preliminary findings presented in this article show a more nuanced picture of the urban-rural divide.

Seema is a 25-year-old software engineer working at a tech firm in Mumbai. Bhagya, also a 25-year-old, is an agricultural labourer in Bhandara.

Seema has easy access to public transportation, can complete her household chores without much trouble and is in contact with a network of thought leaders and industry experts who can give her guidance with career decisions.

Bhagya faces a different reality. She has limited access to infrastructure to reach her workplace and knows few people who work outside the primary sector. She has no access to technology, and as a wage worker, her financial inclusion is limited.

Two Indian women, same age, same country. One urban, one rural. From this example, it seems obvious who has a better chance at work and in life. But is the answer really that simple?

India’s demographic dividend

India has a booming population of 1.4 billion, of which 65% are young people. It is home to a ‘demographic dividend’ that can create substantial economic gains. However, without adequate policy instruments to leverage this advantage, youth unemployment will surge. This will cause a “demographic deficit” instead and increased dependency ratios between the non-working population (minors and senior citizens) and the working age population (age 15-64). The female workforce is an important factor in this scenario. It is against this background that our case study for the “State of the Sustainable Development Goals”-project (SVSS) with Southern Voice is examining women’s potential workforce participation in India.

A declining female labour force

In recent years, there has been much frenzy around India’s declining female labour force participation and its consequences. In 2017, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated their labour force participation to be 27.2%. This is lower than in neighbour countries, e.g. Bangladesh and Nepal. However, contrasting low unemployment rates suggest that barriers, at the levels of society and the individual, are confining female employment and subsequently, the Indian economy. It is estimated that more than USD 700 Billion could be added to India’s national income if the gender gap is overcome by 2025. Those are substantial numbers. Hence the importance of a study like this one that helps us understand the barriers that women face when seeking employment.

Urban vs rural women

Women represent 67% of the rural population. Given the lack of dependability on farming as an occupation, the effects of climate change and the informal nature of the job, it is commonly thought that workers from rural areas of India might be vulnerable to poor labour outcomes. Under this assumption, women from rural areas would be more disinclined from employment. The opposite hypothesis is that women in urban areas are more likely to be a part of the workforce, for example, due to improved access to formal job-related resources.

At first glance, e.g. when comparing the cases of Seema and Bhagya, this assumption seems correct. But if we take a closer look, as we did for this project, we find that this was not wholly accurate.

In some districts, the high female worker population rates were not surprising. They belonged to culturally matriarchal states, such as Nagaland. It is estimated that up to 500 women per 1000 are working in Nagaland’s districts. However, we found differences even within districts with relatively high female workers. Nagaland had more than double the number of rural workers than urban workers. In rural Zunheboto, there are 622 female workers for every 1000 women. But the figure drops to 244 in urban Zunheboto.

What’s more, none of the major urban epicentres of India was found to have female worker population rates that were above the 50th percentile of worker population rates. Major cities, like New Delhi (196 workers per 1000), Mumbai (188 workers per 1000), Kolkata (179 workers per 1000), had significantly lower female worker population rates. They are even lower than the national average.

Thus, Seema might not have it better than Bhagya after all. Urbanisation may not be creating as conducive circumstances for female employment as generally expected. Or perhaps, aspects of rural socio-economics may even enable women to work? This question is further explored in the upcoming India Country Case Study for the SVSS initiative. It uses primary data from six regions of India, looking deep into issues such as social norms, access to resources, education, and skilling.

Debunking the myth

Therefore, external factors may affect labour outcomes. But there are also more profound barriers that affect Indian women and prevent them from being employed. These issues may exist at the level of the household, community, state or nation. Our aim at PAC is to piece together various perspectives from this regionally diverse country. It will help create a more accurate picture of India’s female labour economy, by integrating the views of the average Indian woman, like Seema and Bhagya. In this way, policy implementation and action should align to be more effective. That would help generate impact at the grassroots level and ultimately correct the gender gap in India’s workforce. The result would be beneficial both for Indian society and its economy.

About the SVSS project

The Southern Voice “State of the SDGs” initiative provides evidence-based analysis and recommendations to improve the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a collaborative initiative, the program compiles a broad range of perspectives that are usually missing from international debates. The aim of this report is to fill an existing knowledge gap. Southern Voice is confident that it will enrich the discussions on the SDGs and level the playfield with new voices from the Global South.

Text editor: Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos

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