Towards a Policy Agenda for Recognising and Enhancing Women’s Contribution to Work in India

Aasha Kapur Mehta (), Alakh N. Sharma () and Vandana Upadhyay ()
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Aasha Kapur Mehta: Centre for Gender Studies, Institute for Human Development (IHD)
Alakh N. Sharma: Institute for Human Development (IHD)
Vandana Upadhyay: Rajiv Gandhi University, Department of Economics

Chapter 24 in Women and Work in India: Challenges, Opportunities and Perspectives for Policy, 2026, pp 563-580 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter synthesizes the analytical and evidence-based research findings presented in 22 technical chapters on women and work in India. Not only does it present the trends, patterns and characteristics of women’s work and its continued invisibility but it also discusses emerging issues such as gender disparities among youth who are NEET, feminized contractualization of public employment and exploitative nature of markets such as the platform economy and global supply chains. It discusses the recent increase in female LFPR, factors leading to distress driven or opportunity driven self-employment and the importance of matching qualifications with jobs to get higher returns. While highlighting entrenched gender, social group based discrimination in jobs, and care penalties faced by women, it also provides the contours of a policy roadmap for addressing each of the challenges that are discussed, especially for providing universal access to robust social protection that addresses the vulnerabilities and challenges faced by women in the labour market.

Keywords: Measurement of women’s work; Time use studies; Gender discrimination and inequality; Motherhood; Care penalties and gender responsive care; Gender differences in returns to education; NEET; Public employment; Social protection and capability enhancement (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_24

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-95-6103-2_24

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