Post-pandemic job recovery for Indian women slower than men: Report

An analysis of EPFO data for October 2021 to October 2022, finds that the monthly share of women's registration has consistently remained lower than 28%

The exclusion of women from the workforce that began due to the pandemic could very well be permanent for many women, a report titled "Women and work: how India fared in 2022" released by Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) says.

The report highlights that fewer women have returned to the workplace. The unemployment rate among rural females increased by 1.6 per cent while that among rural males decreased by 1.2 per cent.

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) and Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA), in urban India alone, women’s employment was reduced by 22.1 per cent in 2021 compared to 2019.

As of late 2021, the number of female job-seekers in both rural and urban India had dropped significantly, even as the number of men seeking work increased, compared to 2019.

Along with highlighting the glaring status of women's participation in the workforce in India, the report also provides insights into everyday challenges faced by working women.

For instance, a deep-dive into NFHS-V numbers by IWWAGE researchers shows that among working women, ‘Female guilt’ leads to more incidents of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). "Working women often worry about failing at their perceived ‘fair share’ of household duties and out of the ‘female guilt’ of not being able to fulfil their traditional roles to the fullest, justify IPV more than other women. Approximately 47 per cent of women in paid employment justified IPV."

The report also shows how that Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) for women and girls above 15 is 32.5 per cent, whereas the Labour Force Participation Rate for males in the same age group is 77 per cent.

Just as there has been a disproportionate impact of the pandemic across India, the recovery from the pandemic has also

not been equitable.

Further analysis of the PLFS data between 2017-2021 for five states by IWWAGE shows significant differences in the workforce participation rate (WPR) of women in urban and rural regions.

According to the report, in Punjab’s rural region, Female Work Participation Rate (FWPR) has doubled (9.9 per cent to 17.9 per cent) between 2017-18 and 2020-21, whereas in the urban areas, there is a slight improvement of only 3 per cent.

In Telangana, the WPR of rural women has increased considerably from 25.9 per cent in 2017-18 to 45.1 per cent in 2020-21, while the WPR of urban women has only moved up by 3.8 per cent.

In Kerala, the WPR increased by 9 per cent for rural women and, for urban women, it has increased by only 4.8 per cent.

In Assam, the WPR for rural women witnessed a notable increase of 9.8 per cent, while in the urban areas, there is only a marginal improvement of 2.3 per cent.

Chhattisgarh follows the same trend where urban FWPR is about 26.5 per cent lower than the rural FWPR in 2020-21.

The report's analysis of monthly trends of formal labour force jobs through Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) data for a one-year period from October 2021 to October 2022, highlights that the monthly share of women’s registration has constantly remained lower than 28 per cent despite the extent of job losses during the pandemic being higher for women.

This indicates that the jobs recovered in the year have not been evenly distributed.

The report’s analysis of the informal sector through the gender-disaggregated data available on the e-shram card portal also shows that certain sectors like apparel and domestic household work continue to be highly feminised.

The entrepreneurial aspirations of women who own Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are mostly confined to the micro-enterprise category, making them invisible from the perspective of policy-making and programming.

A survey report by IWWAGE and Delhi Skills & Entrepreneurship University examining women’s access to and appetite for skilling found women expressed interest in entrepreneurial and livelihood skill training programmes such as stitching and sewing, pickle and papad making, embroidery, as well as soft skills training such as business management and planning, communication and thought expression, and use of mobile phones.

Among 522 surveyed women, 77 per cent of aspirational women entrepreneurs cited supplementing their family income as their main reason for starting their own business, while only 11 per cent saw it as a way to gain economic independence.

The report also identifies "key enablers" that can help correct the participation of women in the workforce in India.

These include improving physical infrastructure, improving childcare, strengthening skilling programmes, increasing digital access and addressing safety concerns.

Sona Mitra, the Principal Economist at IWWAGE told Business Standard, “the pandemic has not only disrupted global growth but also disproportionately affected women's participation in the workforce. The 2022 edition of our Women and work trends report reveals how exclusion from the workforce may be permanent for many women, and fewer are returning to work."

Mitra adds, "access to enablers such as safety, relevant skilling modules, improved digital access, and gender-friendly workplace infrastructure are vital for women's participation in the paid workforce. By reducing the 'time poverty' that women experience, these enablers create an ecosystem for women-led growth and development."

Key enablers:

The report notes the following trends on the status of women’s access to key enablers for their participation in the workforce:

● Household infrastructure

Jal Jeevan Mission: 70 million tap water connections, 80 million LPG connections, 15.8 million LPG connections as part of Ujjwala 2.0 released till 30 November 2022.

● Childcare:
 

As of 30 June 2022, only 4,947 creches were functional; 12 states/Union Territories reported 0 functional creches

● Skilling:

Women’s employability consistently remains higher than men’s.
 

Wheebox India Skills Report of 2023 estimates women’s employability in India rose from 34.26% in 2020 to 47.28% in 2022.

● Mobile Access:

GSMA Consumer Survey found that women are less likely to own a smartphone than men.

Between 2020-2021, the percentage of smartphone owners among men rose by 8%, and only by 1% for women.
 

Only 30% of Indian women use mobile internet.

● Safety:

According to the National Crime Records Bureau Crime Report 2021 of August 2022, recorded crimes against women went up from 371,503 in 2020 to 428,278 in 2021.
 

The National Commission for Women (NCW) received 31,000 reports of crimes against women in 2022, the most since 2014.