India's economic future hinges on women in the workforce: The/Nudge report

For India to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047, $14 trillion needs to be contributed by women, which in turn requires the country to meet the ambitious goal of involving 400 million women in the workforce.

According to the Labour Force Participation Distillation Report launched by The/Nudge Prize, which aims to find innovative solutions for pressing issues through entrepreneurship, India’s female labour force participation rate (LFPR) needs to double to 70% by FY47.

In 2023, the LFPR for women was 37%, far below the global average of 47% and starkly lower than the 76.8% for men. At the current trajectory, only 110 million women are expected to join the labour force by FY47. An additional 145 million women need to be brought into the labour force to achieve the goal.

The report added that in India, women are employed in a few gendered, low-productivity sectors. In agriculture and manufacturing, they face limited advancement, while in construction, they make up just over 12% of the workforce, earning significantly less than men in unskilled roles.

It noted that women were seven times more likely to lose their jobs and were 11 times more likely not to recover from their lost jobs. Also, by 2020, nearly half of the women employed in 2019 were out of the workforce.

The pandemic pushed many rural women into or back into work due to income loss or job loss by the primary earner, revealing the fragility of female employment.

The report highlighted three pathways to increase labour force participation.

Firstly, it suggested activating fractural employment, i.e., redefining work for women through platform jobs and digital microwork. The second action would be to invigorate entrepreneurship avenues through digital commerce infrastructure. Lastly, it recommended targeting bottlenecks like mobility and digital access that could inhibit the supply of women to labour markets.

Elaborating on the report, Kanishka Chatterjee, Director & Head, The/Nudge Prize said, “India’s demographic dividend and dreams of a $30 trillion economy, cannot be realised without boosting the participation of women in the workforce, and we have made several strides towards that direction."

"However, addressing the multifaceted barriers—economic, social, and cultural—requires both urgent action and the patience to achieve large-scale disruption. Especially to activate new employment pathways and invigorate entrepreneurship avenues for 300 million women,” she added.