Women Workers in India: Why So Few Among So Many?

By Sonali Das, Sonali Jain-Chandra, Kalpana Kochhar, Naresh Kumar

March 16, 2015

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Sonali Das, Sonali Jain-Chandra, Kalpana Kochhar, and Naresh Kumar. Women Workers in India: Why So Few Among So Many?, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2015) accessed September 19, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper examines the determinants of female labor force participation in India, against the backdrop of India having one of the lowest participation rates for women among peer countries. Using extensive Indian household survey data, we model the labor force participation choices of women, conditional on demographic characteristics and education, as well as looking at the influence of state-level labor market flexibility and other state policies. Our main finding is that a number of policy initiatives can help boost female economic participation in the states of India, including increased labor market flexibility, investment in infrastructure, and enhanced social spending.

Subject: Gender, Gender diversity, Labor, Labor force, Labor force participation, Wages, Women

Keywords: Daily wage, East Asia, Employment pattern, Entrepreneurial activity, Female labor force participation, Gender diversity, Global, India, Informal labor markets, Job contract, Labor force, Labor force participation, Labor market regulation, OECD's employment legislation index, Predicted wage, Substitution effect, Wage, Wage determination, Wage employment, Wages, Women, Worker, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

31
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2015/055
Stock No:

WPIEA2015055
ISBN:

9781498315005
ISSN:

1018-5941

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