In November last year, India’s female labour force participation rate fell to its lowest points at 6.9%. While 67% of all men of working age are employed, only 9% of all women of working age are employed in the country. The longer term trends suggest that female labour force participation rates in India have been puzzling.

Women’s participation in the labor force is influenced and affected by many socio-economic factors such as how far they study, their age of marriage, urbanisation and others.

To understand more about the falling labour force participation of women in India, Kunika Balhotra, Suno India’s Research & Communication Officer reached out to Sona Mitra, Principal Economist at Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy, an initiative of LEAD at Krea University.

Additional Reading:

Women’s Voices: Employment and Entrepreneurship In India
Women’s labour force participation in India: Why is it so low?
Why is female labour force participation declining so sharply in India?

In November last year, India&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/urban-female-labour-participation-rate-falls-to-its-lowest-in-november-since-2016-cmie/articleshow/79777189.cms?from=mdr" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/urban-female-labour-participation-rate-falls-to-its-lowest-in-november-since-2016-cmie/articleshow/79777189.cms?from%3Dmdr&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1611393301708000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEYL4ZcW__DvApfAPGMu90RY4NblQ">female labour force participation rate fell to its lowest points at 6.9%</a>. While 67% of all men of working age are employed, only 9% of all women of working age are employed in the country. The longer term trends suggest that female labour force participation rates in India have been puzzling.
Women&rsquo;s participation in the labor force is influenced and affected by many socio-economic factors such as how far they study, their age of marriage, urbanisation and others.
To understand more about the falling labour force participation of women in India, Kunika Balhotra, Suno India&rsquo;s Research &amp; Communication Officer reached out to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/sonamitra" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/sonamitra&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1611393301708000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHvhM1srQ0KIkBrXrFAg3wkwkdF2A">Sona Mitra</a>, Principal Economist at&nbsp;<a href="https://iwwage.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iwwage.org&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1611393301708000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGHpiD3_4Dn9JnsFChy821mN0YV_w">Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy</a>, an initiative of LEAD at Krea University.
Additional Reading:
<a href="https://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/library/poverty/women-s-voices--employment-and-entrepreneurship-in-india/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/library/poverty/women-s-voices--employment-and-entrepreneurship-in-india/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1611393301708000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH3EUs7NjfCEbXma9XTUh6_EsSiQg">Women&rsquo;s Voices: Employment and Entrepreneurship In India</a> <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-new_delhi/documents/genericdocument/wcms_342357.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-new_delhi/documents/genericdocument/wcms_342357.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1611393301708000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFPvV_8Us_QBA6P3N-uzV3jMpBcJA">Women&rsquo;s labour force participation in India: Why is it so low?</a> <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_250977.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_250977.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1611393301708000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHONIEv1JoD0ZAOrB_yO61iLNQhWg">Why is female labour force participation declining so sharply in India?</a>

Every few months we read statistics related to the economy in the news. Whether it is about government claims of the economy growing, or job losses, industries suffering, the economy is on our minds 

But how much do we understand about it? What factors affect economic growth? And how are we affected by it? To understand how the larger principles of the Indian economy affects us, we at Suno India are bringing in a new series called Indian Economy Explained. 

In the “Indian Economy Explained” series host Kunika Balhotra will bring insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial and developmental sector to understand broad principles about our economy and help contextualise the tumultuous times we live in.

Every few months we read statistics related to the economy in the news. Whether it is about government claims of the economy growing, or job losses, industries suffering, the economy is on our minds&nbsp;
But how much do we understand about it? What factors affect economic growth? And how are we affected by it? To understand how the larger principles of the Indian economy affects us, we at Suno India are bringing in a new series called Indian Economy Explained.&nbsp;
In the &ldquo;Indian Economy Explained&rdquo; series host Kunika Balhotra will bring insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial and developmental sector to understand broad principles about our economy and help contextualise the tumultuous times we live in.

Indian Economy Explained

The economy of India is characterised as a middle income developing market economy. It is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).  An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents. 

To understand all these aspects and the issues like GDP and economic slowdown, role of MSMEs, women participation in economy and many more tune into our latest series Indian Economy Explained.

This series features insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial sector.

The economy of India is characterised as a middle income developing market economy. It is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).&nbsp; An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents.&nbsp;
To understand all these aspects and the issues like GDP and economic slowdown, role of MSMEs, women participation in economy and many more tune into our latest series Indian Economy Explained.
This series features insightful discussions with reputed economists, researchers, professors and people working in the financial sector.

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