India has witnessed significant growth in its Female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), particularly in rural areas, from 2017–18 to 2022–23, according to the government.
A research paper authored by Dr Shamika Ravi, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM, and Dr Mudit Kapoor, EPU, ISI–Delhi Center, suggests that this growth was primarily driven by various government schemes, especially those targeting rural women over the last decade. These schemes include 'Mudra' loans, the 'Drone Didi' initiative, and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) mobilised under the 'Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana', among others.
In the executive summary of the paper, the authors state: "Our paper measures the final outcome of these initiatives as a cumulative growth in female LFPR across India, with a particular focus on rural areas. However, rigorous research is needed to assess the impacts of these programs and to explore the persistent inter-state and rural-urban disparities in India’s female LFPR."
The study relied on data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which provides detailed employment and demographic information for over 2.5 million individuals. This dataset enables the analysis of trends and variations at the national, state, and rural/urban levels. LFPR is calculated as the percentage of employed and unemployed individuals (those seeking or available for work) relative to the total population aged 15 years and above, as explained in the executive summary of the paper.
According to the findings in the paper, at the national level, rural female LFPR surged from 24.6% to 41.5% (~69% growth), while urban LFPR rose modestly from 20.4% to 25.4% (~25%growth) between 2017-18 to 2022-23.
"(But) there are significant interstate variations. In rural areas, significant increases are seen in states like Jharkhand (~233% growth) and Bihar (~6x growth). Northeastern states also showed remarkable growth (example, Nagaland: 15.7% to 71.1%). At the national level, urban areas witnessed modest increases overall," the authors noted.
However there is notable growth in urban Gujarat (16.2% to 26.4%, ~63% growth) and marginal changes in urban Tamil Nadu (27.6% to 28.8%). The general trends show that female LFPR has increased in almost all states, with rural areas seeing larger gains than urban areas, the study revealed.
"We also find that married women in rural areas showed higher participation growth compared to unmarried women. States like Rajasthan and Jharkhand displayed significant growth, particularly among married women. There are, however, significant regional and interstate variations," the authors stated.
The research findings showed that among the northern states, Punjab and Haryana continued to have low female LFPR. Among the eastern state, rural Bihar had the lowest LFPR in the country, but has shown significant improvements in the recent years – especially for rural married women.
Among the Northeastern states, there have been remarkable growth in rural areas with Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh leading. Urban areas of the northeast have showed moderate increases among married women, unlike elsewhere in the country where urban areas have witnessed marginal increase for married women. Across the western and southern states, growth in LFPR is largely concentrated among rural women while urban areas have seen only modest increase. Andhra Pradesh stands out with a major decline in LFPR of urban women with children.
As far as the impacts of gender, age, marital status on the LFPR, the study pointed out that the overall results show that female LFPR forms a bell-shaped curve, peaking at 30–40 years of age and declining sharply after. The male LFPR, on the other hand, remains high (~100%) from ages 30–50, declining gradually thereafter.
"Marital status is a significant determinant of LFPR- for both, women and men. Married men consistently exhibit higher LFPR across states and age groups, while marriage significantly reduces female LFPR, especially in urban areas. The presence of children under 14 years of age affects female LFPR significantly, especially for younger women (20–35 years) and more strongly in urban areas," the study found.