National Council of Applied Economic Research
Opinion: Aakash Dev.
Thozhi Hostels deliver high-quality housing solutions for working women, overcoming migration challenges in urban areas.
In recent years, India has seen a remarkable increase in female labour force participation, from 25 per cent in 2017-18 to 40 per cent in 2022-23, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey. This surge reflects growing economic aspirations among women, bolstered by improved education levels and a gradual improvement in the work conditions favourable for women’s employment.
However, despite this increase, gender parity in the workforce is yet to be achieved. The overall proportion of women in the workforce is still significantly lower than the global average. This disparity is due to predominant socio-cultural norms that overburden women with unpaid care and domestic work, restricting their mobility and independence and thereby limiting their ability to join the workforce. Additionally, in the absence of quality jobs, many willing to work are left without opportunities.
The recent increase in the female labour force participation rate has been driven mainly by the rural sector, with female LFPR in the age group 15-59 years jumping from 24.6 per cent in 2018-19 to more than 41 per cent in 2022-23.
Women are increasingly entering the workforce out of economic necessity and evolving social norms. Agriculture and allied activities and informal and self-employment opportunities have absorbed a significant portion of female workers in rural areas. The urban centres, on the other hand, have yet to show a remarkable pump, showing less than a 5-percentage point improvement over the previous five-year period. Tamil Nadu, however, has outperformed the national average with higher female LFPR in the urban manufacturing sector and the rural economy. It accounts for 42 per cent of all women workers in India’s manufacturing sector.
The success story behind the favourable overall work environment for women in Tamil Nadu has been spearheaded by the launch of Thozhi hostels by the Tamil Nadu government, developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, supported by the World Bank. This initiative combines public infrastructure with private expertise to deliver high-quality housing solutions for working women, overcoming migration challenges in urban areas.
As women increasingly pursue opportunities in cities like Chennai, providing safe, affordable, and well-managed accommodations has become crucial to encouraging their participation in the workforce. Safety concerns, poor living conditions, and inadequate services often made it difficult for women to transition smoothly into urban life. These challenges have historically discouraged many women from fully engaging in the workforce.
The Thozhi hostel model requires the government to provide the land and partial construction grants, while the Tamil Nadu Shelter Fund co-finances and oversees the project with real estate market insights. The locations are carefully chosen close to the industrial belts in the state to obtain desired outcomes. Professional private operators, selected through open bidding, manage the day-to-day operations and services, ensuring sustainability without additional government subsidies. Along with safety standards through camera surveillance and other state-of-the-art facilities, affordability constraints are handled through diverse options such as economy and air-conditioned rooms, single or shared accommodations, and flexible stay durations. With high occupancy rates (more than 2,000 women across 10 such hostels in Tamil Nadu), the economics law of competition has set a benchmark for private hostels to enhance their services, ultimately raising the quality of accommodation options for women statewide, considering the affordability constraints for the women.
The success of Thozhi hostels highlights the potential of leveraging public-private partnerships to address systemic challenges. The project’s efficient operations and sustainability have prompted plans to scale it across the state.
As India aims to achieve greater gender parity in the workforce, the Thozhi model offers a replicable framework for other states, emphasising the critical link between infrastructure and empowerment. This also holds significance with most other poor states needing help to design policies to overcome the demand-supply barriers to women’s labour force participation.
By creating safe and supportive spaces, states can enable women to take on urban employment confidently and independently, exemplifying how innovative solutions can transform challenges into opportunities. Providing safe lodging options to women is just the first among many interventions needed to bell the cat. It should be complemented by appropriate legislation on mobility, WASH facilities, legislative ease on workplace flexibility, and reduced burden of the care economy falling disproportionately on women.
The writer is an Associate Fellow, the National Council of Applied Economic Research. Views are personal.