StatsGuru: India's female labour force boom hides crisis of real employment

India's jobs surge hides a deeper divide - women's participation is rising, but much of it comes from unpaid and insecure work, exposing persistent gender gaps in meaningful employment

Employment in India rose to 643.3 million in 2023-24 from 475 million in 2017–18, a net gain of 168.3 million jobs, according to the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The government hailed the surge in employment and female labour force participation rate (LFPR) as a sign of progress towards its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. But beneath the headline numbers lies a more complex reality: Are more women actually getting meaningful jobs?

 

Women’s LFPR has nearly doubled since 2017, rising from 23.4 per cent to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24. Yet it remains far below men’s rate of 78.8 per cent, showing that while more women are entering the labour market, gender gaps remain stark. 

 

Even with this rise, India’s female participation lags global peers — at 41.7 per cent, compared with 49 per cent global average and 60 per cent in China — underscoring how limited women’s economic inclusion remains. 

 

Most rural women continue to work in agriculture – a sector with low productivity and pay – and their concentration in the sector increased over seven years to 2023-24. 

 

Further, the composition of women’s employment reveals that much of this increase comes from unpaid work or self-employment. 

 

Although fewer women are classified as doing only domestic duties, many have simply moved to unpaid work in household enterprises, which is counted as “employment”. 

 

Even among those in salaried roles, over half have no written contracts or social security, highlighting the informal and insecure nature of women’s jobs.