According to a survey, the number of women who self-employed increased by 14 percentage points to about 65% between the quarters ended in June 2018 and December 2022.
New Delhi: According to a research released on Wednesday, self-employment has recently increased among women in India, largely due to distress more than economic progress.
According to a survey titled “State of Working 2023” published by the Bangalore-based Azim Premji University, the percentage of women who self-employed increased by 14 percentage points to close to 65% between the quarter ended June 2018 and the quarter concluded December 2022.
According to the study, “if participation rises due to economic growth and rising labor demand, (it) has very different implications than if participation rises due to declining household incomes that force women into self-employment.”
Even though more women started working for themselves, their wages were only 85% of what they were in the quarter that ended in June 2019.
After the Covid epidemic, India’s female labor force participation increased from 30% to slightly under 33%, but it still remains low. Women earned 76% of what males did in 2021–2022, a widening of the wage disparity from the early 2000s.
A third of the seats in the lower house of parliament and state assemblies will henceforth be set aside for women, according to the Narendra Modi-led government’s proposal.
Employment growth
Even though the Indian economy is one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, Modi, who is still popular with voters ahead of the national elections slated for May 2024, is criticized for not creating enough jobs.
According to government data analyzed by the university, the economy added over 57 million jobs in the five years leading up to June 2022, increasing India’s workforce to 493 million, yet 35 million people remained unemployed.
The university’s research also revealed that job creation in India has lagged behind the average for developing nations.
The paper stated that policies aimed at attaining faster GDP growth will not necessarily speed up job creation. “Over the long run, increase in gross domestic product (GDP) and employment growth have been uncorrelated in India.
According to the report, unemployment is particularly high among young people, with the rate for graduates in the under-25 age group expected to reach 42.3% by June 2022.
However, as graduates age, the unemployment rate decreases, reaching 22,8% for those in the 25–29 age range and 9.8% for those in the 30-34 age range.
According to the research, “this shows that graduates do eventually find employment, but the key questions are, what is the nature of jobs they find, and do these match their skills and aspirations.”
