Women and Work: Trends Report

A data story on women’s livelihoods and work.

Women and Work 2024

The year 2024 marked a critical juncture for India’s economic landscape, as the nation moved beyond commitments to actionable change in women’s economic empowerment. Guided by the vision of women-led development articulated during India’s 2023 G20 presidency, this period saw a continued emphasis on initiatives aimed at accelerating progress and expanding the conversation around women’s leadership and workforce participation. While 2024 witnessed a notable upward trend in the female labour force participation rate (LFPR)—which rose to 41.7% for those aged 15 and above—challenges such as regional disparities and the burden of unpaid work persist. This latest edition of the ‘Women and Work’ report maps and visualizes these shifting dynamics, offering a forward-looking perspective on pathways to greater inclusion and economic agency.

Drawing on the latest data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24, the report presents a comprehensive story of the year, highlighting major trends in employment, entrepreneurship, and digital inclusion. It examines the surge in rural female participation and the growing role of women-owned MSMEs, while also addressing the “distress-driven” nature of employment in certain regions. The report further forecasts areas for future action in emerging sectors that are critical to sustainable growth, including:

• The Care Economy: Highlighting the need for public investment and fair compensation for care workers to bridge gender gaps.
• STEM and Green Jobs: Analyzing the barriers and opportunities for women in renewable energy and climate-resilient agriculture.
• Digital Inclusion: Exploring how closing the digital gender divide can unlock new work opportunities and enhance entrepreneurial growth.
• Climate Action: Recognizing women’s leadership in water conservation and disaster preparedness through initiatives like ‘Nari Shakti se Jal Shakti’.

You can read the 2024 report here.

Women and Work 2023

The year 2023 witnessed many issues pertaining to women-led development and Nari Shakti being brought to the forefront, reinforcing India’s commitment to gender equality and sustainable development. Despite these strides, female labour force participation remains a critical issue, hindered by socio-economic and cultural factors.This latest edition of the ‘Women and Work’ report contextualises women’s participation within the broader macro-political and economic landscape, highlighting challenges and opportunities while presenting a forward-looking approach to growth, embracing the spirit of Nari Shakti, and recognising women as key drivers of progress and prosperity.

Using thematic prompts from the gender outcomes around women’s leadership and participation listed in the 2023 G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration, the report presents a data story from the year gone by, highlighting major emerging trends around employment, entrepreneurship, and skilling for the future of work. It also forecasts areas for future action around women’s work in emerging sectors such as the care economy, renewable energy and green jobs, and AI and automation.

You can read the 2023 report here.

 

 

Women and Work 2022

2022 presented a landscape of change as the world aimed for greater resilience, recovery and growth as things began to ‘open up’ post the COVID-19 pandemic. Spurred by changes in the overall outlook on ‘work,’ women’s participation in the workforce also reflected a shift, with remote and hybrid work emerging strongly in certain sectors, in continuation of trends set during the height of the pandemic. Similarly, even in work that cannot be performed remotely, there has been a deepening in positive trends. As lockdowns lifted, women person-days in certain employment schemes also climbed.

There is a need to provide a roadmap for enablers of women-led development, whether through participation in leadership, reflection in policy mandates, or even addressing barriers to work. Threaded through with insights from IWWAGE and LEAD’s research on the subject, the report covers trends across available data sources on scheme performances, policy changes, and political announcements, mapping the contours of women’s work in India and looking ahead to 2023.

You can read the 2022 report here.

 

 

Women and Work 2021

The year 2021 continued to be a year of response, recovery and resilience. Even as recovery seemed to be on the horizon, a brutal second wave of COVID-19 brought about a new set of challenges. In line with observations from the first year of the pandemic, women and girls were impacted disproportionately — with structural barriers to equality adding an additional layer of disadvantage to the health crisis.

In order to achieve a gender-responsive and equitable recovery, we need social safety nets that are better designed and inclusive; reduce the gendered divide in access to technology and design hybrid working solutions; and reduce and redistribute care work and invest in strengthening the care economy. This report stitches together and maps the efforts that are underway to bring women back to work and prepare women and girls for the future of work.The report also provides a forward-looking perspective on the future of work for a self reliant India, with a focus on new age skills, entrepreneurship, and rise of non-traditional livelihoods.

You can read the 2021 report here.

 

 

Women and Work 2020

Across the globe, 2020 unleashed a slew of unprecedented challenges and has been an overwhelming period for everyone, socially and economically. While the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has impacted people from all walks of life, it has become increasingly evident that this impact has been harsher for women and girls. Policymakers, civil society organisations, economists, donors in the social sector, grassroots leaders are all trying to gauge the extent to which the pandemic has impacted women in a bid to chart out a gender responsive recovery plan.

Against this backdrop, we look at the key trends and policy developments that came to shape and define the life of women across India in 2020. In this report, we look at women’s changing role in the economy, their resilience in the face of the crisis and the opportunities that lie ahead to gain back momentum on the agenda of women’s economic empowerment that faced a setback this year. This report covers economic and social indicators (like female labour force participation, barriers to work and livelihoods, financial inclusion, digital access, skilling, education and violence against women) that played a central role in determining women’s role in the Indian economy

You can read the 2020 report here.

 

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The Woman and Work series was compiled by the TQH team with valuable inputs from IWWAGE