Women Participation in Labour Force is Rising, But It's Not a Happy Sign. Here's Why

Women’s participation in India’s workforce has historically been low. Social norms that position men as primary earners and women as responsible for household and care work have played a major role in this, alongside limited employment opportunities for women. Female labour force participation declined for much of the period from the 1990s onwards, even as the Indian economy grew.

That trend appears to have changed sharply since 2017-18. The proportion of women participating in the labour force has risen substantially and this increase is often presented as evidence of expanding employment opportunities and economic recovery. However, the headlines tell only part of the story. A rise in women’s participation does not necessarily mean an improvement in their economic circumstances. If the additional employment is concentrated in low paid, informal or unpaid work, it may instead reflect growing economic distress.

This raises an important question: what is actually driving the recent rise in female labour force participation? Is it a sign of better employment opportunities, or are more women entering the workforce because households increasingly need additional sources of income?

We examine this question using Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data from 2017-18 to 2023-24, looking beyond the overall rise in female labour force participation to examine the changing patterns and composition of work. We also examine workforce participation among the elderly as another indicator of changing household economic conditions.

What has happened to the female labour force after 2017-18?

Rather than seeing the rise in women’s labour force participation as an unambiguous sign of progress, recent research has questioned the nature of the work drawing women into the labour market. Much of the increase appears to be concentrated in self employment, unpaid family work and low quality agricultural and informal jobs, while regular salaried employment has declined. For some researchers, this pattern points less to expanding economic opportunities than to underlying economic distress pushing households into low productivity and subsistence forms of work. 

Village studies offer a useful perspective on why women’s work participation changes. The long running study of Palanpur, for instance, found that women were more likely to withdraw from paid work as household economic conditions improved, while economic hardship pushed more women into the workforce. A more recent study of two villages in Tamil Nadu reaches a similar conclusion: women’s participation tends to rise during periods of economic distress, and fall when household conditions improve.

There are, therefore, several indications that the recent rise in female labour force participation is distress driven. However, conclusively establishing this using labour force survey data is difficult. 

One way to examine the argument is to compare broader patterns of workforce participation during periods of declining and rising female labour force participation.

Social norms shape who works and who does not. Just as traditional expectations have often discouraged women from working outside the home, another deeply rooted expectation concerns old age. Once children become economically independent, they are expected to support their parents, allowing older people to reduce or withdraw from work. This relationship between generations offers another way of understanding changes in employment patterns.

If more older people remain in or return to work, it may signal increasing economic pressure within households. Elderly workforce participation can therefore provide a useful window into broader economic conditions. The question is how it changed during the earlier period of declining female labour force participation and the sharp reversal that began in 2017-18.

In the following section, we examine trends in work participation using PLFS data from 2017-18 to 2023-24. By analysing work participation rates among women of working age and older adults, we examine whether recent employment patterns are consistent with the argument of growing economic distress.

What trends show

Figure 1 shows trends in workforce participation rates (WPR) among men and women aged 15 to 59 in rural and urban areas from 2017–18 to 2023–24. While the work participation of both men and women increased in rural areas during this period, it was much sharper for women. Male WPR increased by 4.6 percentage points, compared with an increase of 17.3 percentage points for women.

Figure 1: WPR for men and women (of age between 15 and 59) across sectors, 2017-18 to 2023-24

Source: PLFS, various rounds.

Rural vs urban women: In urban areas, the changes were much more modest. Male WPR increased by 3.4 percentage points, while female WPR increased by 6.5 percentage points.

The sharp rise in women’s participation, especially in rural India, has reopened the debate over what is driving the change. Urban women have not seen a similar rise, and there is little evidence of a major expansion in jobs accessible to rural women. This raises doubts about the progress narrative.

At the same time, there have been clear signs of economic distress. The COVID-19 crisis caused widespread disruption in rural livelihoods, and its effects on household incomes and employment may not have fully reversed. Under mounting economic pressure, women who were previously outside the workforce may be compelled to take up whatever work is available.

Elderly workforce: Trends in workforce participation among the elderly, as seen in Figure 2, show that workforce participation among people aged 60 and above in rural India had been declining, particularly since 2004-05.

This broadly corresponds with the earlier period of declining female labour force participation. One possible explanation is that improving household incomes reduced the need for both, working age women and older people, to remain economically active. While women could withdraw from paid work, older people could rely more on support from their adult children.

The more recent reversal in female work participation, therefore, needs to be viewed alongside changes in elderly employment. If women and older people are increasingly drawn into work at the same time, this may indicate greater economic pressure within households.

Figure 2: Workforce participation rates among the elderly aged 60 and above, rural India, 1983 to 2023–24

Source: NSSO Employment and Unemployment Surveys and PLFS, various rounds.

Figure 3 shows trends in the share of the workforce engaged in agriculture across different age groups and genders from 2017–18 to 2023–24. While the share of men below the age of 59 working in agriculture has consistently declined, women participation in the age group, along with the elderly population show an increasing concentration in agricultural work.

Figure 3: Share of agricultural employment in the rural workforce

Source: PLFS, various rounds.

Figures 4 and 5 examine these trends separately for men and women by dividing agricultural employment into crop production and animal husbandry. Participation in crop production is declining for both men and women across age groups, while participation in animal husbandry shows an increasing trend. This shift is more pronounced among women.

Figure 4: Share of male workforce in crop production and animal husbandry

Source: PLFS, various rounds.

Figure 5: Share of female workforce in crop production and animal husbandry

Source: PLFS, various rounds.

Taken together, these patterns point to increasing pressure in the rural economy. The decline in participation in crop production, alongside the growing concentration of women and elderly people in other forms of agricultural work, is consistent with broader signs of weakness and distress in rural livelihoods. These changes also help explain why the rise in women's work participation should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of improved employment conditions.

Conclusion

The recent rise in women’s work participation is concentrated mainly in rural areas, where there is little evidence of a major expansion in secure and productive jobs. At the same time, existing research points to a growth of low quality, unpaid and insecure work.

The parallel increase in workforce participation among older people adds another dimension to this picture. In a society where adult children are expected to support their ageing parents, more older people remaining in work may point to increasing pressure on household incomes.

Taken together, these trends point to growing rural economic distress rather than expanding opportunity, with the rise in women’s work participation reflecting households’ increasing need to find additional ways to cope with economic pressure. The focus, therefore, should not simply be on how many more women are entering the workforce, but on the quality of the work they are entering and the economic conditions driving them into it. 

The dismantling of a two-decade-old rural employment scheme, MGNREGS, then risks deepening an already fragile rural economy and further limiting households’ ability to cope with economic distress.  

C.R. Yadu is an Assistant Professor in Public Policy at BML Munjal University, Haryana. B. Satheesha is a Senior Research Associate at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Pune, and K. S. Sreenij is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram.

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