Context: Access to higher education, skill training and digital technology are the three great enablers in helping India reap the potential of its female labour force.

• The large-scale adoption of digital and smartphone technologies and the increased need for personal care for the sick, elderly and children have opened up employment opportunities, especially for women.

How giving equal opportunity to women can help Nations advance in their journey of growth? 

• Economic Growth: It has been proven time and again that when more women enter the workforce, economies grow faster. Studies conducted in various nations have proven that there is a direct correlation between greater gender diversity and higher GDPs.  
• Poverty eradication: Empowerment of women helps in poverty eradication. 
• Human Capital: By empowering women, we increase their right to economic resources, as well as their decision-making powers. This, in turn, benefits their households and their communities. Women begin investing more in their children’s education, and thus the quality of human capital improves, which leads to economic prosperity. 
• Also, If women are not empowered, the nation’s economy loses. A recent study by the World Bank found that countries lose $160 trillion in wealth due to the differences in lifetime earnings between men and women. 

Status of Participation of Women in the Workforce of India & Comparison with other Countries

• In 2019, 21% of women were either working or looking for work, compared to 32% in 2005 in India.
• According to World Bank Women’s participation in the workforce in India is still among the lowest in the world at 19.9%. Only 3.7 per cent of the leadership positions in corporate India are occupied by women. 
• India’s female labour force participation (FLFP) rate is lower than some of its neighbours in South Asia such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
• India’s FLFP rate is the lowest among the BRICS countries

Why Women Employment is Very important?

• Demographic dividend: India’s population is among the youngest in the world. In 2020, the median age in India was about 29. Women and girls form a significant part of India’s demographic dividend.
• Further, Increasing FLFP in India is crucial for economic growth, inclusive growth and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Lesson from other countries: Countries like China, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korean achieved fast-paced economic growth due to reaping of the demographic dividend.

What are the potential sectors for creating employment for women?

• The care service sector: The health, education, and other personal care services are labour-intensive sectors. As per the ILO Report on Care work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work: Key findings in Asia and the Pacific (2018), increased investment in the care economy has the potential to generate a total of 69 million jobs in India by 2030. For example, the child care services can be provided in office complexes through collaborative models
• Digital Platforms and The Gig Economy: Due to increasing use of smartphones, the low cost of Internet and other initiatives like Digital India campaign, the work from home has increased in India. It provides job flexibility which are particularly important for women.  Digital platforms that allow remote work are, in principle, accessible to men and women in any location.

What are the suggestions to improve FLFP rate?

• Closing digital accessibility gap: according to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report, only 25% of women owned smartphones compared to 41% of men in India in 2020. It can be significant in giving boosting women’s employment in the gig and platform sector.
• Greater investment in better health and care facilities can lead to more employment opportunities for women.
• Providing access to higher education (beyond secondary education): It can be done by motivating women and their families through incentives such as scholarships as well as transport and hostel facilities.

Skill training: It should be aligned to the gig, platform and care sectors as well as other emerging sectors such as those covered under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme. Online skill training can be provided. It is because they had to face constraints in physical mobility due to social norms, domestic responsibilities or concerns over safety.

• Enabling women to acquire physical assets (through credit facilities, revolving funds, etc.)

Involvement of All Stakeholders: Governments, skill training partners, private firms, corporates and industry associations as well as civil society organisations all need to come together to create enabling measures for women.

• Cooperative federalism: Constant dialogue and engagement with the States on action strategies will be required. It may include Inter-ministerial coordination.

Road Ahead

• The traditionally male-dominated sectors like mining need to improve not only in terms of their gender representation, but also in terms of the work culture. It is the culture at the workplace that determines not just whether a woman gets a seat at the table, but also whether her voice is heard.