
WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE: WHY INDIA FALLS BEHIND
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Author: Sarthak, National Law University
In spite of constitutional assurances and changing legal arrangements in the pursuit of gender parity, India struggles with a hugely low female labor force participation level. India's female labour participation is around 20%, which is one of the lowest levels in the world, as per World Bank data. This paradox continues in the face of rising literacy levels, augmented female participation in higher education, and a burgeoning number of qualified women professionals. The explanations behind this anomaly have their roots in an intricate interplay of social norms, economic frameworks, legal loopholes, and institutional frailties that need earnest examination.
Legally, India boasts several progressive laws to promote women's engagement with the workforce. Some of these are the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (amended in 2017), the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and provisions in the Factories Act and Labour Codes. These legislations try to provide a secure, fair, and supportive working environment. Yet, the application of these laws is still patchy and inconsistent, particularly in the informal economy, which hires more than 90% of India's female labour force. Legal safeguards fail to materialize into concrete advantages for women employed without contracts, social security, or grievance redressal.
Social norms also contribute to hindering women's participation in the workforce. Strongly rooted gender roles prescriptively dictate that domestic duties and caregiving disproportionately fall to women, leaving little space for formal work. Even urban and educated women commonly experience pressure to put marriage and child-rearing ahead of career development. This is compounded by the absence of affordable childcare services and flexible working conditions. Effectively, the lack of support infrastructure and societal norms perpetuates a pattern of low participation and early drop-out from the labour market.
A further key legal and structural problem is one of gendered work. Women tend to be concentrated in low-wage, insecure, and devalued sectors of work like domestic work, textiles, or agriculture. Even with legislation such as the Minimum Wages Act and social security programs aimed at unorganised workers, women remain victims of wage discrimination, job insecurity, and restricted possibilities for mobility. The absence of women in decision-making and leadership roles in companies and government institutions also indicates a systemic exclusion from economic power.
Policy responses have sometimes been deficient in a gender perspective. Although flagship initiatives such as Start-Up India and Skill India are designed to increase jobs, they failed to address the particular needs and challenges for women. The challenge is to incorporate gender issues at each step of policy conceptualization, implementation, and assessment. In addition, employment schemes should be made more inclusive by providing incentives to companies that employ women, providing secure transport facilities, and raising public investment in care work.
Finally, India's behind-the-curve rate of women in the workforce is not just a social issue but a legal and institutional one as well. To close this gap will take a multi-pronged strategy involving increased legal enforcement, cultural transformation, and specialized economic policy. Only when India provides opportunity as well as protection to its working women can it really realize the full potential of its demographic dividend and aim towards inclusive economic development.