Attitudes to women's work reason for dismal labour participation rate

Large majorities among those with a college degree (80%) and those with less education (88%) agree with the notion that wives must always obey their husbands

India has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in the world (21 per cent versus 53 per cent global median), according to 2019 United Nations (UN) data. India’s male labour force participation rate is much higher (76 per cent), and its within-country discrepancy contributes to India’s low ranking on the UN Gender Inequality Index (123 out of 162 ranked countries). The latest Pew Research Centre survey on gender dynamics in the home and the economy believes one reason for this could be attitudes to women’s work when jobs are scarce.

The survey of nearly 30,000 adults throughout India