NEW DELHI: Over the past three to four decades, India has seen significant progress in several indicators of women’s wellbeing, especially literacy, school enrolment, political participation at the local level, and representation in higher education.
However, this progress has been uneven and contradictory. Improvements in education have not translated into workforce participation, while violence against women and underrepresentation in leadership remain persistent structural challenges.
Primary school enrolment for girls reached near-parity by 2015–16. But dropout rates tell a darker story: girls leave the system in disproportionate numbers at the transition to secondary, with poverty, safety concerns, household labour, and early marriage as drivers.
Data reveals substantial improvements in retention at the primary and upper-primary levels, reflecting policy interventions. However, dropout rates at the secondary stage remain relatively high, indicating barriers like early marriage and economic pressures.
Meanwhile, there is a sharp variation in female literacy rates across Indian states. Southern and northeastern states such as Kerala and Mizoram have achieved near-universal female literacy with minimal gender gaps, while several northern states continue to exhibit large disparities.
Even as female education expanded in the country, the labour participation rate presents a globally unique paradox. The Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) fell from around 32% in 1990 to a historic low of 20% in 2017–18, pointing to a phenomenon called India’s “female labour paradox.”
Hill and tribal economies such as Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim report very high participation, partly because women’s labour has historically been integrated into agricultural and household production systems. Meanwhile, northern and urbanised states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi record some of the lowest participation rates.
Much like the FLFPR, women’s representation in leadership roles remains low. The Companies Act 2013 mandates at least one woman director on listed company boards and yet representation in CXO roles remains concentrated in ‘soft’ functions, and heavily tilted toward family-owned firms.
Despite education and jobs, violence against women has not reduced. It exists at two levels in India: the reported and actual. NFHS-5 shows 29.3% of married women aged 18–49 have experienced spousal violence. A gradual decline in reported cases suggests improvements, but prevalence remains high.