Working Women: Policy Options to Raise Female Employment in India

NCAER, in collaboration with The World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist of the South Asia Region, organised a discussion on ‘Working Women: Policy Options to Raise Female Employment in India’ on its campus.

At the outset, NCAER Director General Dr Poonam Gupta and the World Bank’s Chief Economist for South Asia Dr Franziska Ohnsorge made their presentations, which was followed by the panel discussion, moderated by NCAER’s Prof Sonalde Desai. The panelists were Prof Ashwini Deshpande (Ashoka University), Prof A.K. Shiva Kumar (Visiting Professor, Harvard University) and Dr Anuradha Guru (Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance).

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The discussion was held on the back of the release of the World Bank’s South Asia Update which says nearly two-thirds of working-age women are out of the labour force in the region.

In her opening remarks, Dr Gupta said, “We need to target institutional and societal causes creating the gender gap in employment, while simultaneously making it easier, safer, remunerative, and professionally rewarding for women to join the workforce and for their families and communities to support these decisions.”

The mindset needs to change, Dr Gupta said and added, “Given the enormity of the challenge and its persistence, a holistic gender strategy consisting of fiscal, administrative and regulatory measures besides public messaging is needed.”

Citing the just released report, Ohnsorge said if women worked in as productive jobs as men, the GDP in South Asian region could go up by upto 51% and that no single measure could achieve any major increase in women in employment. Calling South Asia, particularly India, a bright spot, she said growth could be much higher if the untapped potential of women is unlocked.

She called for encouraging remote working opportunities, ensuring safety at workplaces, enforcement of gender-equal laws and favourable social norms for women working outside their homes.

Initiating the panel discussion, Prof Desai said the existing social norms kept women back at home.

Referring to Dr Gupta’s call for developing a care economy to cater to the young, the ailing and the elderly, Prof Desai suggested using MGNREGA workers for child care activities, which, she said, could both generate jobs and free up mothers’ time for paid work.

Earlier, the NCAER DG also said an “uncomfortably large number of glass ceilings remain intact even now”. “Lack of women’s leadership is not a pipeline issue. It is a mindset issue. Pipelines can be built with committed intent,” she added.

Asked about data capturing women’s participation, Prof Deshpande said there is ‘mis-measurement’ as there is an underestimation of women’s work which maybe seen as part of family enterprise.

Noting improvement in several parameters over the years, Prof Shiva Kumar said focus needed to be on healthcare and quality school education to increase female participation in employment.

Dr Anuradha Guru listed improved participation of women in government’s skilling schemes like Apprenticeship program, ITIs and others from 2016-17 to now. She also added that the care economy and the agriculture sector could see participation of more women.