{
  "id": 10088342,
  "title": "Why do so few women work in India?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/why-do-so-few-women-work-in-india",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-26T23:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2026/09/27/why-do-so-few-women-work-in-india"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "India's female labor force participation rate (LFPR) is 35%, significantly lower than neighboring countries like Bangladesh (42%) and the Philippines (50%). Despite a 50% increase since 2017-18, over 70% of this rise occurred within the agriculture and subsistence sectors, often involving disguised employment. Raising this disparity would not only promote gender equality but also inject US$700 billion to US$1.4 trillion into India's GDP. However, understanding the reasons behind India's low female labor force participation requires a closer look at various factors.\n\nHistorically, literature on this issue has focused on supply-side constraints, such as societal norms, unequal distribution of unpaid care work, restrictions on mobility and education, weak legal protections, and practices like child marriage. Research supports this, with Indian women dedicating about 22% of their day to unpaid care work, compared to men's 6.4%. Consequently, policy responses have primarily aimed at increasing women's presence in existing jobs. Yet, despite improvements in education and a significant decrease in child marriages, women's share in the nonfarm labor force remains largely stagnant. This suggests that external labor demand also plays a crucial role in the low LFPR.\n\nAn important indicator of this lack of demand is labor intensity, or the ratio of labor employed to output produced. Compared to peers like Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Vietnam, India is considerably less labor-intensive. For instance, these countries employ 40-50 workers per million dollars of GDP, while India employs only 35. If India matched Bangladesh's labor intensity, its female LFPR would rise to nearly 50%. Furthermore, high youth unemployment, particularly among graduates, signals insufficient labor demand, as young people cannot secure wages to incentivize employment.\n\nThe expansion of labor-intensive industries, such as Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) sector, can significantly boost female employment. Since 1983, the RMG industry has grown from 4% to 81% of Bangladesh's exports, generating millions of jobs for women. If India had a similar growth trajectory, its female LFPR would be closer to 50%. However, India underperforms in labor-intensive sectors, contributing just 16% of GDP compared to 20-26% in other countries. This weak labor demand is exacerbated by high compliance costs and cumbersome regulations in employment, discouraging firms from hiring labor.\n\nTo boost India's female LFPR, two complementary strategies are needed: faster GDP growth and higher employment growth. Faster GDP growth would increase overall demand for labor, with a more labor-intensive growth model ensuring that new jobs are created. Three key reforms can facilitate this: simplifying labor regulations to reduce compliance burdens, promoting labor-intensive industries by addressing policy distortions and increasing access to global markets, and substantially increasing public investment in education and health, which are traditionally labor-intensive sectors with significant potential for female employment. These reforms would enhance labor demand, raising India's female LFPR and creating a virtuous cycle of improved social norms and workforce productivity.",
  "summary": "According to a UN Women technical brief, Indian women spent about 22% of their day on unpaid care work, compared to 6.4% for men.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Why do so few women work in India?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/why-do-so-few-women-work-in-india-10090574",
        "published": "2026-09-26T23:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}