Precarious Drop : Reassessing Patterns of Female Labor Force Participation in India
This paper uses successive rounds of National Sample Survey Organization data from 1993-94 to 2011-12, and draws from census data. This paper (i) provides a description of nearly two decades of patterns and trends in female labor force participatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/559511491319990632/Precarious-drop-reassessing-patterns-of-female-labor-force-participation-in-India http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26368 |
| Summary: | This paper uses successive rounds of
National Sample Survey Organization data from 1993-94 to
2011-12, and draws from census data. This paper (i) provides
a description of nearly two decades of patterns and trends
in female labor force participation in India; (ii) estimates
the extent of the recent decline in female labor force
participation; and (iii) examines and assesses the
contribution of various demographic and socioeconomic
factors in explaining the female labor force participation
decision and the recent the drop. The analysis finds that
female labor force participation dropped by 19.6 million
women from 2004–05 to 2011–12. Participation declined by
11.4 percent, from 42.6 to 31.2 percent during 1993–94 to
2011–12. Approximately 53 percent of this drop occurred in
rural India, among those ages 15 to 24 years. Factors such
as educational attainment, socioeconomic status, and
household composition largely contributed to the drop,
although their effects were more pronounced in rural areas.
Specifically, the analysis finds a U-shaped relationship
between levels of educational attainment and female labor
force participation. The decomposition of the contribution
of these various determinants to the female labor force
participation decision suggests that stability in family
income, as indicated by the increasing share of regular wage
earners and declining share of casual labor in the
composition of family labor supply, has led female family
members to choose dropping out of, rather than joining, the
labor force. The findings of this paper suggest that
conventional approaches to increasing female labor force
participation (such as education and skills and legal
provisions) will be insufficient. Policies should center on
promoting the acceptability of female employment and
investing in growing economic sectors that are more
attractive for female employment. |
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