Over 89 Mn Women Out of Labour Market in Urban India
Chennai: Over 89 million or 57 per cent of working-age women in urban India remained out of the labour market in FY24, despite women outpacing men in educational enrolment.
Over 89 million urban Indian women, or 57 per cent of those in the age group of 15 to 64 years, are out of the labour market. This is higher than the population of Germany, France, or the UK and triple that of Australia, finds a study by Great Lakes Institute of Management.
They have categorised themselves as ‘not seeking work’. Among them, more than 19 million women with graduate-level education or higher.
Women’s employment in urban India rose by just 10 per cent in six years between FY18 to FY24 reaching 28 per cent up from 18.2 per cent. This makes India rank 142nd out of 146 countries in the economic participation and opportunity sub-index of the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Gender Equality Index.
However, educational enrolment in urban India has reached gender parity with young women slightly outpacing men. The estimates show that in the 15-19 age group, 81 per cent of girls
were enrolled in education compared to 78.2 per cent of boys in FY24. Similarly, in the 20-24 age bracket, women’s educational participation at 30.7 per cent is equal to men’s 30.5 per cent.
Marriage and motherhood drastically alter women’s employment trajectories. By age 25–29, nearly 80 per cent of urban women are married, and only 29.2 per cent in this age group are employed. Domestic burdens intensify post-marriage as evidenced by the time-use patterns of employed women revealing stark differences based on marital status.
