Female Workforce Participation in India: How to Step it up and Increase Their Employment in Non-Agricultural Activities

Bishwanath Goldar () and Suresh Aggarwal
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Bishwanath Goldar: Institute of Economic Growth

Chapter 11 in Women and Work in India: Challenges, Opportunities and Perspectives for Policy, 2026, pp 251-278 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract There were significant hikes in female labour force and workforce participation rates in India between 2017–18 and 2023–24, leading to a surge in female and aggregate employment. The increases in female employment occurred chiefly in agriculture. Manufacturing employment growth accelerated in recent years due to increases in rural female workforce participation and other factors. Our analysis indicates that creating a conducive work environment and significantly reducing the burden of unpaid household work on working-age women will help enhance female workforce participation. There is some empirical evidence indicating that access to mobiles and fintech services has contributed to female employment in India. Our analysis also shows that providing large-scale technical education to young women in rural areas would significantly enhance female workforce participation. Further, the establishment of women-headed MSMEs would promote female employment in non-agricultural activities. For this to occur, access to finance needs to be substantially increased.

Keywords: Female workforce participation rate; Unpaid household work; Growing digital economy; Access to fintech; Employment of women workers; Domestic responsibilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:isbchp:978-981-95-6103-2_11

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-95-6103-2_11

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