Relevance: GS-2: Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, and Human Resources.

Key Phrases: Female labour force participation, Global Gender Gap Index, Patriarchal society, Digital Divide, Dietary diversity, Financial independence, Decision-making, CARE international Report, Gender inequality, Women’s participation, Rural labour force, Sustainable food and nutritional security.

Why in News?

• Study in semi-arid areas shows improved nutritional intake in households with working women. Addressing gender inequality in economic opportunities in developing countries has the potential to improve the household’s nutrition as well.

Female labour force participation in India:

• The female labour force participation rate for the productive age group (15–59 years) decreased by 13.9 percent between 2011–12 to 2021–22 and decreased from 33.1 percent to 19.2 percent.
• Female labour force participation rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
• During the COVID period, due to migration of men to rural areas, the workforce of women in rural areas also declined.
• Nearly 70% of working women in India have quit or considered quitting their jobs because they were not offered the right flexible policies after the Covid pandemic.
• India ranks 135 among 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2022 of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
• The rank in economic participation and opportunity was particularly abysmal with India at 143rd position. This poor performance is largely due to a very low participation of Indian women in the work force.
• India’s condition is much worse than most developing countries in the world.

Reasons for Low female labour force participation:

• Patriarchal society:
  • India is a patriarchal society.
  • India’s societal norms are such that women are expected to take responsibility for family care and childcare.
  • This stereotype is a critical barrier to women’s labour force participation.
• Modern society:
  • Modern society is getting higher education for most women, due to which their entry into the labour market is delayed.
• Unpaid work:
  • According to the World Economic Forum, due to the high responsibility of women in unpaid work (care economy), women are unable to enter the labour force.
• Sexual harassment at the workplace:
  • Besides, sexual harassment at the workplace and increasing sexual exploitation in cities discourage women from participating in the labour force.
• Digital Divide:
  • Digital divide can become a barrier for women to access critical education, health, and financial services, or to achieve success in activities or sectors that are becoming more digitized.
  • In India in 2019, internet users were 67% male and 33% female, and this gap is even bigger in rural areas.
• Private employers do not give priority to women in the labour force as they will have to keep provisions like structural reforms, maternity benefits.

A Case Study (women labour force participation effect on the dietary diversity of the household)

• Researchers of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) investigate the role of women's labour force participation in the household's dietary diversity and the value of home-production.
• The study uses unique rural household-level panel data from the village dynamics studies of ICRISAT in semi-arid regions of India.
• The study covers 18 villages from the States of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Finding of Study:

• Enhances dietary diversity:
  • The study shows that increased participation of women in the labour force enhances the dietary diversity of the household, which is a good indicator for household-level food security.
• Financial independence:
  • Engagement of rural women in the labour market not only generates income that relaxes the budget constraint of the household but also empowers them with financial independence.
• Improving the nutritional intake of the households:
  • As women direct a greater share of resources towards richer nutrients, the ensuing liquidity allows for the purchase of a more diversified food basket. Thereby, improving the nutritional intake of the households.
• Increasing women’s involvement in household decision-making
  • Researchers involved in the project find that employment in paid activities, independent from the influence of men, improves dietary diversity by increasing women’s involvement in household decision-making and exposing them to more diverse dietary practices and eating patterns.

Way forward:

• Women play a crucial role in the production of food and in feeding their families and the world. Gender equality is highly connected to food security at a local, national, and global level.
• It is time to update global understanding of food security and gender inequality, and local actors, including women’s organisations in crisis-affected communities, need to get the flexible funding and support desperately needed to protect women and girls from hunger-associated gender-based-violence and protection risks.
• So, Women’s labour force participation and access to decent work are important and necessary elements of an inclusive and sustainable development process.
• Women continue to face many barriers to enter labour market and to access decent work and disproportionately face a range of multiple challenges relating to access to employment, choice of work, working conditions, employment security, wage parity, discrimination, and balancing the competing burdens of work and family responsibilities.
• Considering these insights, policy makers in India should take a comprehensive approach to improving labour market outcomes for women through improving access to and relevance of education and training programs, skills development, access to childcare, maternity protection, and provision of safe and accessible transport, along with the promotion of a pattern of growth that creates job opportunities.
• A policy framework encouraging and enabling women’s participation should be constructed with an active awareness of the “gender-specific” constraints that face most women.

Source: The Hindu BL 

Mains Question:

Q. Discuss how empowering women is crucial to ensure sustainable food and nutritional security. Suggest measures for increasing female labour force participation rate. (250 words).