Sonja Cheung

The View | India needs women in workforce to fully tap economic potential

If India is to successfully double the size of its economy by 2030, the only viable path is raising the number of women in the workforce

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A paramilitary soldier stands guard as women queue up to cast their votes at a polling station during the seventh and final phase of national elections in Kolkata, India, on June 1. Indian women’s political participation has made significant progress, but their participation in the country’s workforce still lags behind much of the world. Photo: AP

Sonja Cheung

Published: 5:30am, 19 Jun 2024

With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi starting his third term, it is crucial that he follows through with his commitment to transform India into one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. To do so, he must prioritise raising the country’s female labour force participation, which remains alarmingly low.

Traditional conservative social norms have historically limited Indian women’s participation in paid employment by restricting their mobility and autonomy. Concerns about safety, including fears of street violence and sexual harassment, have deterred women from entering the workforce.

Additionally, Indian women are primarily tasked with doing unpaid domestic work such as cooking and caring for children and the elderly.

However, Modi’s ambitious aim to double India’s economy to US$6.7 trillion by 2030 can only be achieved by significantly boosting the number of working-age women in employment or actively seeking work. In 2023, only 33 per cent of eligible women in India were working or looking for employment – a 5 per cent increase from the previous year but still far too low.

This is in stark contrast with Vietnam, where the female labour force participation rate was 68 per cent in 2023. Furthermore, India’s rate remains well below the global rate of 49 per cent. If India wants to achieve an 8 per cent GDP growth rate, a recent report by Barclays says it must raise its female labour force participation rate to 43.4 per cent by 2030.

04:26

Women are disappearing from India’s workforce even as country’s population soars

The availability of safe job opportunities for women outside the home is a critical issue that must be addressed. A study of about 1,300 villages in southern India revealed that more than half of the women were solely engaged in labour on family farms. This could stem from a lack of necessary skills or mobility for external employment, as well as the desire to be close to the security of home.