On gender equity, press reset

Context: A recent report from LinkedIn suggested that Indian women increased their participation in paid work between April and July because of the new normal of “work from home” (WFH)

Circumstances that may help in increasing women’s Labour Force Participation (LFP):

• Advantages of Work from Home (WFH): WFH is such a situation that allows women to combine their domestic and employment responsibilities.

• Decrease in  the time cost of domestic/unpaid care work

• Sharing domestic work with Men

• Calamitous events like wars and pandemics: have demonstrated their potential to shift towards pre-established labour market patterns and norms. 

• E.g. There was an increase in time spent on domestic work by men during COVID 19 Pandemic

• Low fertility rate

• High Literacy rate

Constraints in increasing women’s LFP:

• Responsibility for domestic chores and unpaid care work: In India, Women spend between 5 to 10 times more time on housework compared to men.

• Child care responsibility: has increased due to closure of schools, putting them in a dilemma to choose between child care or job.

• The large gender gap in paid works remains: According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data, male and female employment in August is 98 % and 91 % respectively of the respective pre-pandemic average. This may be because of  -

• Unwillingness: Women are unwilling to work despite opportunities due to fractured 

• Lack of suitable jobs: Unable to find work that commensurates with their rising educational qualifications

• Fractured nature of work: Lack of conducive and enabling conditions for work such as toilets and work and transportation.

Conclusion: Paying attention to job creation with a gender equity lens is essential for India to realize its tremendous gender dividend.