With no jobs, millions of Indians are exiting the labour force
2 years, 8 months ago

With no jobs, millions of Indians are exiting the labour force

Al Jazeera  

Frustrated with the lack of good jobs, more than half of the 900 million Indians of working age no longer want one. Now, more than half of the 900 million Indians of legal working age — roughly the population of the U.S. and Russia combined — don’t want a job, according to the CMIE. “The large share of discouraged workers suggests that India is unlikely to reap the dividend that its young population has to offer,” said Kunal Kundu, an economist with Societe Generale GSC Pvt in Bengaluru. “India will likely remain in a middle-income trap, with the K-shaped growth path further fueling inequality.” India’s challenges around job creation are well-documented. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prioritized jobs, pressing India to strive for “amrit kaal,” or a golden era of growth, his administration has made limited progress in solving impossible demographic math.

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History of this topic

Women Scientists in India Exit STEM Careers Despite High PhD Numbers as Gender Gap Widens in Academia
2 months, 1 week ago

Women Scientists in India Exit STEM Careers Despite High PhD Numbers as Gender Gap Widens in Academia

The Hindu  

Published : Nov 06, 2024 21:10 IST - 8 MINS READ Uma’s academic track record was what any scientist would dream of: she completed her PhD in molecular biology, and continued on her career path after her marriage, becoming an assistant professor at a new Central University in the Northeast. When the authors reached out to women scientists, they found …

Lifting the burden keeping Indian women from work
8 months, 1 week ago

Lifting the burden keeping Indian women from work

New Indian Express  

Women’s work participation across the world has been low and its recovery from the post-pandemic period has been slow. The International Labour Organization’s World Employment and Social Outlook Report for 2023 reflects on this persistent gender gap and pegs women’s participation in the labour market at 47.4 percent, as compared to men’s at 72.3 percent. Apart from the ILO's highlight …

Falling percentages, failing work conditions: A deeper look into women’s employment in India
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Falling percentages, failing work conditions: A deeper look into women’s employment in India

The Hindu  

It’s no secret that the number of women in the labour market is significantly lesser than that of men, but did you know that in India, when it comes to rural women in labour force, the number is not just low, but has been almost steadily declining over the years? And for rural women, it’s been steadily declining over time,” …

How to create more jobs for India’s educated youth | In Focus podcast
9 months, 1 week ago

How to create more jobs for India’s educated youth | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

The India Employment Report 2024, released recently by the International Labour Organisation, paints a grim picture. The news is particularly bad on two critical counts: joblessness is particularly high among the youth, and its worse for the educated youth. According to the report, India’s youth account for 83% of the unemployed workforce, with the share of the educated youth among …

Employment scenario in India grim, says ILO report
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Employment scenario in India grim, says ILO report

The Hindu  

India’s youth account for almost 83% of the unemployed workforce and the share of youngsters with secondary or higher education in the total unemployed youth has almost doubled from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022, as per the India Employment Report 2024 released by the International Labour Organisation and the Institute of Human Development here on Tuesday. Paradoxical improvements …

Despite Significant Jump in Female Literacy Rate, Participation of Women with Advanced Degrees in Workforce Low
10 months ago

Despite Significant Jump in Female Literacy Rate, Participation of Women with Advanced Degrees in Workforce Low

News 18  

The celebration of International Women’s Day marks the achievement of women’s empowerment, although, despite the significant increase in the female literacy rate, the number of working women with higher advanced degrees in the country has not gone up much. However, the National Sample Survey Office reports that only 2.9 per cent of the total employed people aged 25 years and …

The determinant in more women in the job market
10 months, 1 week ago

The determinant in more women in the job market

The Hindu  

There is growing demand from social scientists, governments and international organisations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, that women’s participation in the economy/labour market should increase to promote economic growth of India. Consequently, they overcrowd in stereotyped low productivity jobs and lag behind men in all average labour market outcomes such as participation, wages, and diversification …

Flight to equality: charting a course for women in aviation sector
11 months ago

Flight to equality: charting a course for women in aviation sector

The Hindu  

The under-representation of women, especially in leadership roles in India, has been a long-debated issue. While the country has the highest ratio of women airline pilots in the world at 15%, there is not enough female representation in other sectors such as aeronautical engineering, airport management jobs, air traffic control and leadership roles, said aviation professionals at a round-table on …

Bond route to improving female presence in labour
11 months, 1 week ago

Bond route to improving female presence in labour

Hindustan Times  

American economist Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize win last year threw into focus the conversation on women and work. However, 2023 saw early signs of an upswing, with the Periodic Labour Force Survey reporting that 31.6% of women across urban and rural India are part of the workforce. Evidence from around the world shows that skilling is a sector well primed …

More women take to STEM at college. But can India Inc stem their exit from jobs?
11 months, 1 week ago

More women take to STEM at college. But can India Inc stem their exit from jobs?

Live Mint  

The country has seen a remarkable rise in women joining colleges, and many of them are studying science and technology courses, but that has failed to significantly improve the diversity quotient at corporate India. Yet, the high number of women graduates will take a while before they boost gender diversity in India Inc. During and after the pandemic, a large …

India starts survey to assess women participation in workforce
11 months, 2 weeks ago

India starts survey to assess women participation in workforce

The Hindu  

The Union Ministries of Labour & Employment and Women & Child Development have started a joint survey on increasing women participation in the workforce. The survey was announced by Union Minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi at a function “Women in the Workforce for Viksit Bharat” on Tuesday. Latest PLFS data The latest results of the Periodic Labour Force Survey, …

Women are losing out to men in India’s jobless growth
1 year, 1 month ago

Women are losing out to men in India’s jobless growth

Live Mint  

The share of women in regular salaried jobs in urban India dropped from 54% in the first quarter to 52.8% in the second quarter, according to quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey data, Business Standard reported. Since salaried workers receive regular wages, that type of work is preferred to casual work or self-employment, which also includes working as unpaid household help …

The big threat to India’s demographic dividend
1 year, 1 month ago

The big threat to India’s demographic dividend

Live Mint  

Bengaluru: In a short press release, dated 13 October, the Ministry of Women and Child Development announced that the Female Labour Force Participation Rate for 2022-23 had improved significantly over the previous year by 4.2 percentage points to 37%. Non-obvious insights View Full Image One of the most under-reported trends is that agriculture, which is the least productive undertaking, is …

Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath shares insight on India’s low female labour force partic
1 year, 4 months ago

Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath shares insight on India’s low female labour force partic

Live Mint  

India's female labour force participation remains to be at an extremely low level in past one decade. Highlighting the opportunity of economic boost by employing India's female population, Zerodha's Nithin Kamath shared insight on India's female labour force participation. Our female labor force participation rate is among the lowest in the world.” He also underlined thed drastic fall in female …

DC Edit | Women's employment a steep challenge
1 year, 4 months ago

DC Edit | Women's employment a steep challenge

Deccan Chronicle  

India is the most populous nation on earth and more than half of its people, 52 per cent to be precise, are aged below 30. Given that India’s sex ratio is almost evenly poised, about 35 crore women, a number almost equal to the whole population of the United States, belong to this group. Pit this against the current data …

Are women paying the price as work shifts back to office space?
1 year, 6 months ago

Are women paying the price as work shifts back to office space?

The Hindu  

In May this year, Susheela Pavate, 41, quit her high-paying tech job after a disagreement with her line manager about mandatorily reporting to the office four days a week. “After three years of working from home, I found the switch tough, along with the long commute to work,” says the mother of two. “There might be other reasons, but intuitively, …

As India’s population soars above all other nations, fewer women have jobs
1 year, 9 months ago

As India’s population soars above all other nations, fewer women have jobs

LA Times  

Sheela Singh cried the day she handed in her resignation. The women’s employment rate peaked at 35% in 2004 and fell to about 25% in 2022, according to calculations based on official data, said Rosa Abraham, an economist at Azim Premji University. A national jobs crisis is one reason for the gap, experts say, but entrenched cultural beliefs that see …

As India’s population soars above all, fewer women have jobs
1 year, 9 months ago

As India’s population soars above all, fewer women have jobs

Associated Press  

MUMBAI, India — Sheela Singh cried the day she handed in her resignation. It’s not only a problem for women like Singh, but a growing challenge for India’s own economic ambitions if its estimated 670 million women are left behind as its population expands. ___ The women’s employment rate peaked at 35% in 2004 and fell to around 25% in …

Analysis | As India's population booms, where are its working women?
1 year, 9 months ago

Analysis | As India's population booms, where are its working women?

The Hindu  

Pinky Negi, an Indian teacher with two master's degrees, loved her old job at a public school in the Himalayan foothills. Less than a third of Indian women are working or actively seeking work, data shows, despite progress such as better educational attainment, improved health, falling fertility rates and more women-friendly labour policies. Policy changes that could rectify these problems …

Women’s work is not valued properly: Indian development economist Jayati Ghosh
1 year, 10 months ago

Women’s work is not valued properly: Indian development economist Jayati Ghosh

The Hindu  

In her 2022 book, The Making of a Catastrophe, on the disastrous economic fallout of COVID-19, Indian development economist Jayati Ghosh writes that job losses and food insecurity were significantly higher for women. India is among one of the few countries that did not even achieve the MDGs for maternal health, and since then the pandemic has dramatically worsened the …

Can Britannia help women grab a bigger slice of India's job pie?
1 year, 10 months ago

Can Britannia help women grab a bigger slice of India's job pie?

Live Mint  

Britannia Industries Ltd claims it expects women to comprise half of its workforce by 2024. Any decision to increase the number of women in formal jobs is most welcome in India, where the female labour force participation rate has been falling since hitting a peak of 32% in 2005. The government’s data shows women’s labour force participation rate recently rose …

Bring more women into the workforce: Ashoka Mody
1 year, 10 months ago

Bring more women into the workforce: Ashoka Mody

The Hindu  

In India Is Broken — And why it’s hard to fix, veteran economist Ashoka Mody chooses the road less travelled to tell the story of the multitudes of lived realities that still need comeuppance within the country’s much-vaunted economic liberalisation success story. But instead of just reeling off a critique of contemporary India’s glaring dichotomies and inequities, Mody traverses through …

Why women get fewer jobs and earn lesser wages than men in India
1 year, 10 months ago

Why women get fewer jobs and earn lesser wages than men in India

The Hindu  

Published : Feb 27, 2023 12:39 IST Following the announcement by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in October last year of equal pay for all men and women Team India cricketers, the highest bid received by a cricketer in the inaugural Women’s Premier League is being celebrated as a watershed moment, not just in India but globally. …

Tech layoffs happening in US, not India, says Union Minister
1 year, 10 months ago

Tech layoffs happening in US, not India, says Union Minister

The Hindu  

Layoffs are happening in the tech majors in the US and not in India, said Rajeev Chandrasekhar Union Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Moreover, according to him, India has added 18 lakh jobs in the technology and electronic sector in the two years since the pandemic Mr. Chandrasekhar was responding to a concern expressed …

Addressing gender inequalities: India needs bold steps
1 year, 11 months ago

Addressing gender inequalities: India needs bold steps

Hindustan Times  

India, which assumed presidency of G20 this year, has stated that it will prioritise inclusive growth and development, with women empowerment and representation at the forefront of its G20 discussions. This indeed is a desirable objective, given the large gender inequalities that exist in several G20 member countries, especially in India, which also gets reflected in its overall human development …

Women workers in informal sector earn 30-40 pc less than their male counterparts: Report
2 years ago

Women workers in informal sector earn 30-40 pc less than their male counterparts: Report

India TV News  

According to a report that highlights gender inequality in the informal sector, women workers in the Indian construction and real estate sector earn 30-40 per cent less than their male counterparts Consulting firm Primus Partners and World Trade Center on Monday released a report 'Pink Collar Skilling: Unleashing the Women's Power in the Real Estate Sector' highlighted several concerning points …

India’s growth in able and skilled hands
2 years ago

India’s growth in able and skilled hands

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: The world’s population has surpassed the 8-billion mark. As India aspires to become a five trillion USD economy, studies on the subject say that if women contribute in a ‘full-potential’ scenario – that is if women participate in equal numbers as men,India would add $2.9 trillion to its annual GDP in 2025. India’s Paradox – Case of Missing women …

Many Can Learn from India's Health Systems; Put Women in Positions of Power: Melinda Gates to News18 - News18
2 years, 1 month ago

Many Can Learn from India's Health Systems; Put Women in Positions of Power: Melinda Gates to News18 - News18

News 18  

Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is on a visit to India. In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18 on Tuesday, she spoke at length about India’s Covid vaccination model, its digital strides, hosting G20, putting women in positions of power, and areas that need improvement. All talked about how people around them see them differently …

Why India can’t afford women staying out of labour market
2 years, 1 month ago

Why India can’t afford women staying out of labour market

Live Mint  

Separately, Oxfam India’s India Discrimination Report 2022 revealed that wages are lower for women overwhelmingly because of discriminatory practices and only slightly due to lack of education and work experience. Besides, a significant number of qualified women were found unwilling to join the labour market due to ‘family responsibilities’, said the report. A recent Bloomberg Economics analysis estimated that though …

How Crimes Against Women Deter Female Workforce From Stepping Out For Work
2 years, 4 months ago

How Crimes Against Women Deter Female Workforce From Stepping Out For Work

News 18  

Recently, PM Narendra Modi exhorted the importance of having a flexible, work-from-home ecosystem that would immensely boost women’s participation in India’s labor force. This, is despite recent data from the National Crime Records Bureau, reporting a steady decline in India’s total crime rate, which fell by 7.6% to 61 lakhs last year. This means that the crime rate per lakh …

Why India's Laxmi Deserves More Shakti Through Equal Skill Training and Job Opportunities
2 years, 4 months ago

Why India's Laxmi Deserves More Shakti Through Equal Skill Training and Job Opportunities

News 18  

A recent report by consulting group McKinsey Global has highlighted the immense economic potential India is failing to realise, all because women face work-related hindrances. As per the Time Use Survey Report 2019, women in India spend only 61 minutes per day on employment and related activities, as opposed to 247 minutes spent on unpaid domestic services. According to 2019-2020 …

Indian women outdo men in taking the entrepreneurial plunge during pandemic
2 years, 5 months ago

Indian women outdo men in taking the entrepreneurial plunge during pandemic

The Hindu  

Here is a rosy picture. We saw this especially in the years of the pandemic, when women sheltered from a shrinking job market by starting their own businesses that also created opportunities for other women,” says Ruchee Anand, senior director, India Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn, while interpreting the numbers. Managerial level Apart from being under represented in leadership roles, …

Trillions at stake as Indian women disappear from workforce
2 years, 7 months ago

Trillions at stake as Indian women disappear from workforce

Deccan Chronicle  

For years, Sanchuri Bhuniya fought her parents’ pleas to settle down. Increased domestic duties, lack of childcare options after school shutdowns, and a surge in marriages — which often confine women’s autonomy in India — help explain the difference in outcome. They can’t negotiate the labor market as effectively as men do.” Dreams of freedom or a well-paid office job …

Women@Work: 20 Million Indian Women Quit Work in 5 Years – It is the Greatest Resignation Ever
2 years, 8 months ago

Women@Work: 20 Million Indian Women Quit Work in 5 Years – It is the Greatest Resignation Ever

News 18  

Fascinating data came in from the fifth National Family Health Survey across more than 6.37 lakh households. Twenty million women just quit in the last five years, this is the ‘greatest resignation’ and sadly it doesn’t stem from an exalted search for work-life balance or purpose. Surely, the working conditions or cultural factors and even the extent of domestic unpaid …

May the Female Force Be With You: India Must Harness the Strength of Women in the Workforce
2 years, 8 months ago

May the Female Force Be With You: India Must Harness the Strength of Women in the Workforce

News 18  

Michelle Obama’s famous remarks that “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens” deserves more attention than ever as we celebrate this International Labour Day. As a result of its strict adherence to social norms and patriarchal values, Indian society disproportionately places the …

How to ensure more women in the workforce
2 years, 8 months ago

How to ensure more women in the workforce

Hindustan Times  

India aims to become a $5-trillion economy by 2025. We focus on the fact that while the male labour force participation rates in the two countries are fairly similar, their female labour force participation rates are vastly different. The bulk of the research on female participation in the labour force has been on supply-side constraints: Family income and employment, marital …

'Factually incorrect': Centre rubbishes reports of Indians losing hope for work
2 years, 8 months ago

'Factually incorrect': Centre rubbishes reports of Indians losing hope for work

India TV News  

Highlights Labour force and workforce in the country increased during 2017-18 to 2019-20, govt said There has been an increase in the female labour force, the govt further said Employment is the primary concern of the Government of India, it said Ministry of Labour and Employment on Tuesday said that reports stating half of the working-age population has lost hope …

Wrong to infer that half of working age population dropped out of labour force: Government
2 years, 8 months ago

Wrong to infer that half of working age population dropped out of labour force: Government

The Hindu  

Responding to a recent report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the Union Labour and Employment Ministry on Tuesday said it was “factually incorrect” to infer that half the working age population had dropped out of the labour force as a large proportion was pursuing education or engaged in unpaid activities such as caregiving. A substantial portion of working …

The era of an unemployed India
2 years, 9 months ago

The era of an unemployed India

The Hindu  

Reports on and the visuals of the recent agitations by railway job applicants reveal a widespread problem of massive job insecurity among India’s youth. One such index is the downward pressure unleashed by the influx of overqualified youth aspiring for middle and lower rung government jobs, which, despite their modest pay, are highly coveted given the greater job security ascribed …

Women@Work: Working Women Up Globally but Down in India. Is There a Way Out?
2 years, 10 months ago

Women@Work: Working Women Up Globally but Down in India. Is There a Way Out?

News 18  

My daughter who is in Grade 1 was in her Hindi online class and while doing the akshar श्र they were asked to draw a श्रमिक, without hesitation she drew me. If you look at data from the 1990s till date, across most countries, women’s participation in the labour force has increased. Our rate is significantly lower than Sri Lanka …

Shikha Mukerjee | India’s women must move on from hijabs, kitchens…
2 years, 10 months ago

Shikha Mukerjee | India’s women must move on from hijabs, kitchens…

Deccan Chronicle  

The time has come to talk of many things, beyond dress codes, obedience and protection as the price that women must pay to be safe, beyond roles and responsibilities, to the idea of equality, justice, freedom for women. Women’s participation as workers has declined, though more and more girls complete school education and enter colleges and professional programmes. Fewer women …

School Closures and the Hidden Costs of This Market Failure
2 years, 11 months ago

School Closures and the Hidden Costs of This Market Failure

News 18  

Schools have not opened for most parts of the last two years in India. Women’s workforce participation in urban India has fallen further, they continue to shoulder the additional online-school responsibilities, mostly juggling two children while managing the house, a cruel and unfair burden. It has been estimated by the World Bank, that India is set to lose $440 billion …

Job loss in women-centric sectors, family care & more: Why young female workers were worst hit by Covid
3 years, 2 months ago

Job loss in women-centric sectors, family care & more: Why young female workers were worst hit by Covid

India Today  

Commercial activities might be limping back to normalcy but the scars of Covid on the Indian economy will take time to heal. While the overall employment-to-population ratio fell 1.6 per cent between January and March 2020, it fell 5.6 per cent for younger women, showed the latest report by the International Labour Organization. Women were disproportionately affected, accounting for 38.9 …

Coronavirus likely to lock India’s women out of job market for years
3 years, 5 months ago

Coronavirus likely to lock India’s women out of job market for years

Live Mint  

New Delhi: Savitri Devi has been searching for work since she lost her job at a garment factory in New Delhi, along with half her co-workers, when sales plummeted at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year. "Whatever social and economic gains Indian women had made in the last decade, it has been largely wiped out during the COVID …

Why India needs a gender-positive recovery
3 years, 8 months ago

Why India needs a gender-positive recovery

India Today  

Gurgaon-based artist Akanksha Sarkar, 41, has given up taking on freelance projects. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021 estimates that the time it will take to close the global gender gap—in health, education, politics and economics—has increased from 99.5 years to 135.6 years. Home to 650 million women, India has slipped 28 places in the WEF’s Global …

85% of women in India missed out on raise, promotion because of their gender: LinkedIn study
3 years, 10 months ago

85% of women in India missed out on raise, promotion because of their gender: LinkedIn study

India Today  

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has launched the Opportunity Index 2021 report which has found that around 85% of women in India have missed out on raises and promotions because of their gender. This year’s report dives deep to understand how women perceive opportunities, and how the gender gap is further slowing down career progress for working women in …

India’s women and the workforce
3 years, 10 months ago

India’s women and the workforce

Hindustan Times  

Why is women’s employment declining in India? The thrust of the predominant explanations is that women are dropping out of paid work or the labour force either because of fear of sexual violence outside the home; or fear of being stigmatised by the community that might see their work as a marker of low status, i.e. Women’s education has increased …

Gender Pay Parity: 37% Indian Working Women Get Paid Less Than Men, Suggests Report
3 years, 10 months ago

Gender Pay Parity: 37% Indian Working Women Get Paid Less Than Men, Suggests Report

ABP News  

New Delhi: Even as 66 percent of Indians believe that the condition of gender equality has improved compared to their parents' time, working women still face the strongest gender bias across Asia Pacific countries. In this alarming report, one in five working women in India stated that their companies exhibit a 'favourable bias' towards men when compared to the regional …

Only 7% of urban Indian women have paid jobs
3 years, 10 months ago

Only 7% of urban Indian women have paid jobs

The Economist  

Listen to this story. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a local research firm, put the share of urban women in or looking for work at just 7% in November. Their answers to questions like “Should men have more right to a job than women?” are more egalitarian than poll responses in Indonesia, where fully 53% of women pursue work …

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