The LPR for women in the 20-24 age group increased from 10.63 per cent in May-August 2022 to 11.58 per cent in the period. This translates to an expansion in the female labour force in this age group of 0.17 million. Of the women belonging to the 20-24 age group who entered the labour force, 0.13 million were employed. This is a positive sign for the labour market as more young women seem to be willing to work. In fact, a large share of these women was able to gain employment as well.
The LPR for women in the 20-24 age group seems to be more sensitive to economic shocks, compared to women in the 25-29 age group. The impact of demonetisation as well as the pandemic-induced lockdowns was felt to a greater extent by women in the 20-24 years age group, in terms of a higher fall in LPR. Furthermore, women in this age group also experienced a larger increase in LPR in recent times.
The upward trend in LPR for young women is a positive sign. Young women are stepping into the labour force in much larger numbers than seen since the pandemic. Many of them are also finding jobs. This is expected to motivate other young women to enter the labour force. It is imperative that this nascent trend of a rising young female LPR is strengthened and it does not face any more economic shocks.
While there is a recovery in the female LPR, India has not been able to reach pre-pandemic levels yet. There is also a long way to go to achieve the levels of female LPR that existed before demonetisation. Female LPR suffered a much bigger setback following demonetisation than it did during the pandemic.
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