Female Labour Force Participation Rate as per PLFS

Why in news?

• According to the recent Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report, Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLPR) (current weekly status) has increased from 16% in 2017-18 to 21% in 2021-22, while the unemployment rate has declined from 4% to 2%.
• It means around 22. 5 million more women have joined the workforce or are actively seeking work, despite the impact of Covid-19 on women and young girls.

Key findings of PLFS on FLPR:

• Self-Employed and unpaid:
  • Women in casual labour and in regular/wage employment have declined by 6% and 4% respectively.
  • On the other hand, the share of self-employed women drastically increased by 10% to stand at 62%.
  • The majority of self-employed women work as part-time or full-time helpers in their household enterprises and are without pay (60%), while a lower percentage are employers and own-account workers (40%).
• Rural v/s urban FLPR:
  • Rural women’s workforce participation emerged as the key driver of women’s employment.
  • When compared to pre-pandemic levels, this increased by almost 22% vis-à-vis the 2% for urban women.
• Decrease in salary workers:
  • There is a simultaneous decrease in salaried, wage and casual labour work.
• Gender-wage inequality has increased:
  • For the self-employed, men have gone from earning 2. 2 times more than women in 2017-18 to 2. 6 times in 2020-21.

Key observations:

• Agriculture remains the most ubiquitous employment
• Increasing feminisation in agriculture.
  • For instance, women’s participation increased from 57% in 2017-18 to 63% in 2021-22
• There is a high increase in informalisation of women’s work
• The distribution of women’s labour force has changed since the pandemic
• These shifts in FLPR are deeply gendered, underpinned by existing and new Covid-19induced gendered expectations and norms.
• Evidence suggests women were hit worse by Covid-19 in terms of loss of jobs, economic distress, and an increased burden of household work, up by as much as 30%, when compared to men.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements:

1. Women accounts for major share of workforce in agriculture sector

2. Female Labour Force Participation Rate has declined over the last five years

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer