Missing: Women in the workforce

The paucity of women in the workforce reflects structural issues in households, societies and governance

Fatima* (27) worked at a garment factory in Bengaluru. During the second lockdown, pregnant women like her were asked to take early, unpaid maternity leave. And not return to their jobs.

“We were just told to go home and take rest,” Fatima said.

Even though it was very early in her term, she stopped going to work. Money was hard to come by. Sustenance came from borrowing. There began her arduous search for a job. Most factories just didn’t have creches.

It took her two years to finally find a job at a garment factory that had a creche.

“Even now, several women are unable to get their jobs back,” Fatima said.

V Geetha (45), a farmer from Kolar, used to get 100 days of guaranteed work under the The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

“The 100 days started decreasing after Covid. Now, we barely get 30 days,” Geetha said.

She has learnt that life has become harder for women in agriculture and garment factories as they are not getting employed. “Many women had major health issues after contracting Covid and even after recovery. Employers just don't give us work.”

Equality in employment has not been a reality for Indian women, and the pandemic has only widened the gulf. In a country driven predominantly by patriarchal norms, this inequality comes as no surprise. Fenced in by social, economic and cultural restrictions, there are not as many women participating in the labour force — formal and informal, rural and urban.

Disparity in pay and promotions, lack of maternity and paternity leave, absence of toilets, and sexual harassment are major contributing factors to the widening gulf at the workforce.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey 2020-21, undertaken by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, indicates that the rural and urban female labour force participation rates are 27.7 per cent and 18.6 per cent, respectively, with the total being 25.1 per cent.

The corresponding figures for males are 57.1 per cent and 58.4 per cent, respectively, for rural and urban areas, accounting for 57.5 per cent.

Quoting these findings, Ipsita Sapra, Chairperson, School of Public Policy and Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, points out that the preliminary reports suggest these figures are likely to have skewed more during the pandemic as a large number of women employed in work that required physical proximity, such as in salons and as domestic help, lost their jobs and found it difficult to return.

"While we worry about poor Female Labour Force Participation, one must recognise that much of women’s work remains unaccounted for," Ipsita says emphasising that this is not limited to the unpaid care work and the domestic chores that women perform, often singlehandedly.

This also includes women’s contribution towards family enterprises, often the key livelihood sustaining activity, she says.

Pushed to a corner

Women quitting jobs because of sexual harassment is not rare either. A doctor recounted a case in which a senior male doctor made advances towards many women. One of them confronted the management. And she, a junior doctor, was asked to leave. "A senior male doctor’s word was given preference over a junior female doctor. She just left the workplace and joined another hospital," the doctor added.

The doctor said, "All women doctors who are interviewed, even for a position of residency/fellowship, are always asked if they are married or single and if they will continue the residency for three years in case they get married."

"The entrenched patriarchy and gender role expectations of women and men in society push women away from the job market towards more home-bound roles,’’ says Nirmala Menon, founder and CEO of Interweave Consulting, an organisation that works on workplace diversity and inclusion.

Even though many women get educated and trained to participate equally alongside men in the job market, she said, the entrenched gender roles push them away, or even if they are continuing in the workspace, compel them to compromise on their success, career potential and advancement.

"The participation of women in job-oriented education and training is far lesser than that of men. Even within families, if there are limited resources, the boys get better education and training than girls, restricting the participation of women in the job market, and placing them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis men," she said.

Due to the burden of societal expectations and years of conditioning, many women still feel under-confident and less prepared to take up challenging assignments than men. "This, coupled with the life-stage compulsions like childbirth, elder care responsibilities etc, make the women themselves less ambitious about pursuing their careers," Nirmala avers.

Sannamma, 60, who lives in Bengaluru, used to sell flowers for a living. She had to look for an alternative livelihood due to the pandemic.

"I cannot go back to flower-selling because people are not buying as many flowers as they did earlier," she said.

She worked as a gardener for a few days and did a few odd jobs, but all these were only for a day or two. She is unable to find a regular job. "It was difficult to earn a living before Covid, now it is worse."

Urban inequalities

The pandemic led to a disproportionate number of women being pushed out of the formal labour force, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data.

Sonalde Desai, Professor and Centre Director, National Data Innovation Centre, National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi pointed out that gender inequalities in workforce participation are most glaring in women living in urban areas, women with moderate levels of education (between class 5 and 12) and North-Central states. Individuals in wage employment or in salaried jobs were most likely to lose employment.

“Since rural women are more likely to work on farms or in self-employment, they were somewhat protected. However, for urban women wage workers, losses were much higher,” she said.

Independent income gives women greater control over household resources than if they are helpers on family farms or businesses. Hence, losing wage employment will have a long-term negative impact on women’s economic empowerment, she added.

The IT sector also has much left to be desired.

"Disparities still exist in terms of pay parity, access to roles like sales, and progression to leadership cadre,” says Nirmala. "While the intent is to close the gap with varied initiatives, the reality is that mindsets are hard to change.”

The data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reveal that on an average, Indian women spend about 5.8 hours a day undertaking domestic chores. Comparatively, the time men spend on domestic work is estimated to be about 52 minutes in a day. “This disparity, often referred to as ‘time poverty’ that women experience, means they have fewer opportunities to be engaged in paid work. Women often find it difficult to work because the caring responsibilities are unevenly shared in the households,” Ipsita said.

For the same work that a man gets paid Rs 500 to 600, Geetha said, a woman would get around Rs 200 or 300, be it in agriculture, garment work or construction.

Sannamma now borrows money from the women in her neighbourhood to meet her needs. Her son goes to work, but she wants to earn her own income since most of his earnings go towards loans and a chit fund.

She no longer feels self-sufficient. "With my flower business earlier, I felt empowered."

(*Name has been changed to protect identity)

With inputs from Sweekruthi K