Less than 10% of women in India have a paid job

Ground Report | New Delhi: Number of women doing jobs in India; Female participation in the Indian labour market faces one of its worst crises, deepened by the negative economic effects stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The figures indicate that the third-largest economy in Asia will have a great challenge to recover from the pandemic hit and its financial consequences.

Number of women doing jobs in India

One of the most affected population segments is that of women since currently, less than 10% of them have a paid job. This was revealed this year by a survey led by the Center for Monitoring the Indian Economy

ALSO READ: Discrimination against Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis in Healthcare

In other words, only seven out of every hundred Indian women of working age have a paid job. Many of them lost their jobs during the strict confinements imposed since the beginning of the pandemic, which led them to take care of minors while schools were closed.

Precisely, the health and economic situation has caused thousands of business closures and job losses that pushed more than 230 million Indians into poverty in the last year, according to a study by Azim Premji University. India is a country with a little over 1.3 billion inhabitants. (Number of women doing jobs in India)

ALSO READ: 26/11 Mumbai Attack: top officials pay tribute to martyrs

Millions of Indians are now struggling to pay their rent and cover their basic health and education expenses. All of the above has worsened in recent weeks with increases in the prices of some services such as electricity, fuel for vehicles and other goods.

Many families and small businesses have been forced, in the midst of the economic crisis, to offer their gold as collateral to obtain short-term bank loans. Gold is considered an essential commodity at weddings, birthdays, and religious ceremonies, and is viewed as a safe investment that can be transferred from one generation to the next.

Why women’s unemployment rise

Since 2019, an additional 73 million women have left the labor force and are not looking for jobs – whether they lack opportunities, lack time due to the increasing burden of care, or lack of hope.

The Bain & Company-Google report cites a 2019 study by the Washington-based Women’s Policy Research Institute as saying, “Women hold the majority of administrative and data-processing roles, which threatens to usurp artificial intelligence and other technologies.” Huh.” “As regular jobs become automated, the pressure on women will intensify and they will experience higher unemployment rates.”

Furthermore, women who are actively participating in the workforce are 2.9 times more likely than men to be unemployed.

Creating employment opportunities is the need of the hour. However, encouraging more women to become entrepreneurs would provide a long-term solution. “Entrepreneurship among women can transform India’s economy and society by creating jobs, spurring innovation, and spurring investment in health and education,” the report said.

There were 81 million more women and 73 million more men in inactivity in 2020 than in 2019. Part of this discrepancy is that women shifted most of their time to family care. It’s work, and it’s very important to households, but it’s unpaid and doesn’t count in employment figures. Some of them have withdrawn from the labor force.

Employment declined by 5%

Starting with the bigger picture, global working hours fell in 2020 for both men and women. There was a loss equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, which is quite significant. But the crisis has adversely affected women. Employment of women declined by 5% compared to 3.9% for men. We had very optimistic trends before this pandemic, but these are clearly setbacks.

As COVID-19 increases the time women spend on family responsibilities disproportionately – an estimated 30 percent in India, according to a survey

Traditionally, the term “unemployed” has included people looking for jobs that are available to work. It is about demand and supply tension. “Inaction” generally means people who are not looking for work for pay or profit and are not – are assumed to be. There are people who are not looking for work but willing to work. And also people who are not available now but would have if they had the chance. This is what happened in the pandemic. If there is a lockdown and everything is closed then you cannot look for work.

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Whatsapp. For suggestions and writeups mail us at [email protected]