How gender remains a primary barrier to women's workforce participation

Indian Express

a day ago

— Rituparna Patgiri
As India celebrates the 79th Independence Day, it is also a moment to reflect on the country's journey towards inclusive growth. Over the years, women's participation in the workforce has evolved. However, data shows that their participation varies across regions (such as rural and urban), types of work (such as blue- and grey-collar jobs and gig-based employment), etc.
Let's explore structural and social factors affecting women's participation in the workforce and ways to address this.
In addition to old age, disability and factors that keep adults of legal working age away from participating in the labour force, there is a clear gender dimension to workforce participation in India. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2022-2023 conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 8 in 10 men are part of the labour force, compared to only 4 in 10 women.
The female labour force participation rate remains lower than in other countries with comparable income and development levels. As such, women are considerably underrepresented in India's labour force. Many are still working, but in ways that are not counted in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. This gap is not just confined to rural India or women with lower levels of education. Women in urban areas, including those with graduate or higher education degrees, also remain outside the workforce.
The professionalisation of any type of work usually means that men have better employment prospects than women. This is particularly true in blue- and grey-collar jobs. According to the PLFS 2022-2023, women's representation in blue- and grey-collar roles has increased from 16 per cent in FY20-21 to 19 per cent in FY23-24. Although this shows some progress, the proportion remains very low.
Blue and grey collar roles involve manual labour or technical work encompassing industries like retail, construction, logistics, manufacturing, maintenance, and transportation. These often involve physical work, require technical or mechanical skills, and, as such, vocational training and apprenticeship. Work settings are usually outdoors – factories, workshops, construction sites, etc.
According to the 2025 survey by Indeed, women hold just one in five jobs in India's blue- and grey-collar workforce. Similarly, a report by the Udaiti Foundation, in partnership with Quess Corp Ltd. and titled State of Women in the Blue-Grey Collar Workforce 2025, highlights systemic barriers and the need for immediate policy interventions in this sector.
Although women have equal rights under the law, in practice they continue to face barriers to workforce participation. Most of these barriers are structural. Rigid work schedules, wage inequality, limited training and upskilling opportunities, lack of digital skills, inadequate safety norms, and familial and childcare responsibilities all obstruct women's participation in the workforce, particularly in the blue and grey-collar roles.
Many of these jobs have fixed and long work schedules. Families often discourage women from engaging in such jobs, and the dual burden of household duties and paid employment leaves them at a disadvantage.
Women also face wage gaps and inequality in the workforce, forcing some to exit the workforce. Disparity in the gender pay gap remains a significant global issue, highlighting deep-rooted inequities in labour markets. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, as of 2024, women worldwide earn $0.83 for each dollar earned by men, indicating a pay gap of 17 per cent.
The Udaiti Foundation report reveals that women in India's blue- and grey-collar jobs earn only about 70 per cent of men's wages. Half of these women are unhappy with their pay, and 80 per cent save less than 2,000 a month or, in many cases, nothing at all.
Along with lower pay, factors such as poor work-life balance, male-dominated workplace cultures, and a lack of respect and recognition also contribute to women's decisions to leave. The report also highlights that 52 per cent of women with less than a year of work experience plan to quit within the next 12 months. With wages low and working conditions unsafe, women have minimal motivation or incentives to continue such jobs.
But the primary barrier continues to be gender, which is the perception that women are not capable of performing physical and hard labour. Due to such perceptions, employers often hesitate to hire them. Many employers also believe that women prioritise family and childcare responsibilities, which prevents them from hiring more women. Most importantly, many of them do not want to provide maternity benefits and other entitlements, hence they hire fewer women.
The rise of the gig-based platform economy has also contributed to gender disparities. Many platform jobs, such as driving and delivery, are male-dominated and often perceived as unsafe or socially inappropriate for women. Social stigma further discourages them from entering these roles.
Studies led by economists such as Uma Rani show that the gig-based platforms reinforce existing gender biases, although they often promote themselves as flexible and empowering. Women are pushed into lower-paid gig work like domestic help, parlour services, while men dominate the better-paid delivery or transport sectors.
Public space is less accessible to women, especially at night. Platform work is heavily dependent on mobility, something that has historically constrained Indian women's workforce participation. This issue has been studied by scholars such as Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade in their book Why Loiter?: Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets (2011).
Scholars have shown how gendered experiences of commuting in cities affect women's participation in the workforce. Transport inequality also intersects with caste and poverty, as women from marginalised communities often face additional barriers as they live in peripheral areas with poor transport connectivity.
There are also regional and identity-based variations among women. The PLFS report shows that the unemployment rate for women has increased to 3.2 per cent from 2.9 per cent. A large part of this increase is driven by educated rural women who are unable to find work in the blue- and grey-collar sector. This is largely because of a lack of digital skills and vocational training.
Sonalde Desai notes in The Paradox of Declining Female Work Participation in an Era of Economic Growth (2019) that it is the absence of suitable jobs rather than women's withdrawal from the labour force that accounts for declining female work participation.
Upper-caste women historically have lower labour force participation rates, particularly in blue- and grey-collar jobs. This is because paid work, particularly in these sectors, is often viewed as low status, leading families to discourage women from working outside the home. Muslim upper-caste women also face similar cultural barriers, and as such, their labour force participation remains low.
In comparison, women from lower castes tend to have greater labour force participation rates, often in informal, low-skilled and underpaid roles, reflecting their intersectional vulnerability. This has been examined by several sociologists and economists, including Mukesh Eswaran, Bharat Ramaswami, and Wilima Wadhwa in Status, Caste, and the Time Allocation of Women in Rural India (2013), and Muzna Fatima Alvi in Caste, Religion and the Labour Force Participation of Women: Evidence from India (2023).
Arun Kumar Bairwa and Jadhav Chakradhar's study, Caste Affiliation and Access to High-Authority Jobs in the Indian Service Sector (2024), also shows significant disparities between lower and upper castes in securing high-authority positions.
To mitigate these challenges, a multi-pronged strategy addressing structural, cultural, and economic barriers is essential. Implementation and enforcement of a minimum wage can also help close the wage gaps between men and women. Moreover, childcare and maternity costs need to be factored into employment policies to encourage women to be part of the workforce.
Safety remains yet another key concern, as many workplaces often lack basic measures like CCTV cameras and adequate lighting. Therefore, strengthening workplace infrastructure, providing adequate sanitation, childcare facilities, and women-friendly amenities are crucial.
Offering transport and accommodation for women can also help companies improve retention. At the policy level, greater emphasis on vocational and skill-based training for women, particularly rural women, along with better mechanisms to connect trained women to suitable jobs, would be a step in the right direction.
Moreover, many field-facing roles across sectors do not have any formal grievance redressal systems. Establishing such mechanisms would help women feel safe to report workplace issues and offer them better assurance that their concerns will be addressed.
Similarly, more transparency in hiring rather than relying on word-of-mouth and reference-based recruitment that often discourages women from applying would further help. Expansion and enforcement of labour laws, with provisions for formal contracts and social security, would complement other efforts.
Scholars such as Naila Kabeer (Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment, 1992), Ashwini Deshpande (Norms that Matter: Exploring the Distribution of Women's Work between Income Generation, Expenditure-saving and Unpaid Domestic Responsibilities in India, 2024), and Devaki Jain (Valuing Work: Time as a Measure, 1996) have advocated for adopting a broader view of employment that includes agency, dignity, and choice. Women's work needs to be viewed from this lens. Only then can we move towards narrowing the gender gap in the workforce.
What explains women's lower participation in the workforce across rural and urban areas?
Why does the gender pay gap persist in both formal and informal sectors despite legal equality?
How do wage disparities within the blue- and grey-collar sectors reflect broader patterns of gendered labour market segmentation?
What policy interventions could most effectively improve women's participation in the blue- and grey-collar workforce?
How can vocational training programs be redesigned to connect women—especially in rural areas—with suitable employment?
(Rituparna Patgiri is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati.)
Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with [e-mail].
Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.