Counting rural women’s labour — on female labour force participation in rural India

Source: This post has been created based on the article “Counting rural women’s labour” published in the Indian Express on 6^th October 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Indian Economy — Inclusive growth and issues relating to employment.

News: The article discusses the state of Labour Force Participation (LFP) of women, especially rural women, its distribution and emerging trends.

What is the state of women’s labour force in India?

As per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data for 2021-22, LFPR is only 35.6% for women in the working age group (15-59 years).

Participation rate was higher for rural India compared to urban.

India has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates (LFPR) in the world, even behind other South Asian countries (except Afghanistan and Pakistan).

The Time Use Survey (2019) reveals that on average, women spend over 5 hours every day in unpaid domestic services and more than 2 hours in unpaid caregiving services in rural areas which is substantially more than men. Rural women also spend over 7 hours every day growing crops for the market and household use.

What explains the recent increase in women’s Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)?

Feminization of Agriculture: From 2017 to 2021, women’s LFPR increased relative to men, particularly in rural areas because of the larger engagement of rural women in agriculture and allied activities.

Rural India: Recent increase in rural women’s LFPR is entirely explained by the increase in self-employment.

What are the current trends in rural women’s labour force participation?

1) Nearly 3/4th of rural working women were involved in agriculture and allied activities.

2) More than half worked as unpaid family helpers (in household business without getting any payment). Furthermore, married women were more prone to taking on the role of unpaid family helpers or engaging in domestic chores.

3) Rural women working as regular and casual wage workers faced a higher ”Gender Wage Gap” compared to urban women.

4) Self-employed women received less than half of men’s earnings, indicating a higher gender earning gap.

5) A significant proportion of women are involved in unpaid but essential activities and are not considered within the labour force in India.

6) In rural areas, one third of women remained engaged in unpaid domestic chores.

What is the state of rural women in agriculture?

1) Gender Disparity: The Agriculture Census (2015-16) reported that women owned only 14.7% of the operational landholdings. Out of these, 57% are small and marginal landholdings. This is important as owning land can enable women to get access to different agricultural schemes, compensation and relief measures in case of crop loss.

2) Recently, schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) have received a higher allocation from the government. But the gender-wise beneficiary data highlights that only 15% women farmers received financial support from PMFBY in 2023 and only 25% women farmers received financial benefit under PM-KISAN. Since landowning is the major criterion for getting benefits of these two schemes, many women farmers end up excluded.

What should be the way forward?

The unpaid, unaccounted and underpaid contribution of rural women, not only in agriculture but the overall rural economy, must be counted. Also, inclusion of landless, marginal women farmers in government agricultural schemes is required to combat gender inequality in rural India.