NSSO report withheld by government says ‘5 crore rural women left national job market since 2004-05’: Indian Express

Over 5 crore rural women have left the national job market since 2004-05, Indian Express reports, and female participation “has fallen by 7 percentage points since 2011-12, amounting to approximately 2.8 crore fewer women looking for jobs”. Express accessed data from the 2017-18 Periodic Labour Force Survey report by the National Sample Survey Office. The report has been withheld by the government.

The data shows that the decline in female participation in the employment market is “more acute”in the working age group 15-59 years. In rural areas, the participation rate in this age group was 49.4 per cent in 2004-05 which declined to 24.6 per cent in 2017-18. In urban areas, the female participation rate was 24.4 per cent in 2004-05 which declined to 20.4 per cent in 2017-18.

The newspaper quoted an expert as saying the decline could be “the result of a cultural shift that makes the once-independent village woman a victim of growing social taboos against going out and working”. The expert also suggested that fewer women would remain in a “shrinking job market where men have the upper hand”.

However, Express noted: “In the urban segment, though, female participation increased by 0.4 percentage points in the six years ending 2017-18, amounting to 12 lakh more job seekers. This bucks the trend as female participation in urban job market had fallen by 2.2 percentage points between 2004-5 and 2011-12.”