Review Article: 2023 Vol: 27 Issue: 1
Women Empowerment and Inclusive Growth Need For Governance And Improved Employment Policy For Urban Unemployed Women In India
Mohit Goel, Amity International School Pushup Vihar, Delhi
Citation Information: Goel, M. (2023). Women empowerment and inclusive growth need for governance and improved employment policy for urban unemployed women in india. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 27(S1), 1-7.
Abstract
India has witnessed many social changes post-independence. Today, women have come out of their homes and established an identity of their own in different areas of work. Despite this, India’s Labour Force Participation Rate for Women is falling every year owing to cultural restrictions, family responsibility, gender discrimination, quantum of payment, safety at work place, working hours and conditions of employment, etc. which is leading to less participation of women, in the employment data. For an inclusive growth of women in India, there is a need to look into urban planning and governance issues related to Employment Policies at the state and central level for the urban unemployed.
Keywords
Urban Unemployment, Women Empowerment, Governance and Employment Policy.
Introduction
Literature Review
Women’s empowerment means her ability to participate equally in existing markets; their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time; and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels from the household to international institutions Blumberg (2005). Women’s empowerment boosts productivity, increases economic diversification and income equality in addition to other positive development outcomes. Empowered Indian women can also pioneer self-help groups and initiatives for creating positive social change in rural or underdeveloped areas Central Intelligence Agency (2011).
There are many initiatives taken for rural unemployed women and I feel that they have more options for them to get employed than the urban women. Urban females have less choices because they are more educated and therefore they can’t get into unskilled petty jobs so they prefer to stay at home and bear the agony and pain of being unemployed. This may rise the mental health issues in many cases (Krishnamurthi Foundation, UK). Indirectly, Divorce rate is rising, Single parenting is rising, people prefer not to have kids in some cases, etc Delloitte (2015).
Norway, Belgium, Brazil are a few to make us consider the issue in India. In Private organized sector Tata group, IBM, Deloitte, American Express, Google, are a few names who have realized and have started attending to the needs of their employees Blumberg (2005).
But isn’t there a need to Panda & Agarwal (2005) regulate and formalize a plan for such needs at work place? After all, we all are humans. Although maternity benefits, safety at work place, are very much in place yet there are considerations like paternity leave, expansion of early child-care sector, option of working part-time, Work from home, with part-time pay-package, Outsourcing jobs, etc. are also to be valued and documented for. Labour force participation in Norway is among the highest in the OECD . According to NSSO (NSSO, Employment and Unemployment Survey Rounds no.55,61,66 and 68), more housewives would prefer to work and contribute if given the right conditions Woetzel et al. (2015).
The longer term trends suggest that women have increased their participation in Bangladesh, which is due to the growth of the readymade garment sector and an increase in rural female employment, mainly on account of the spread of micro-credit. Apart from Nepal, where the participation rate for women reached 79.4 per cent in 2010-11and the Maldives (54 per cent in 2009-10), Bangladesh now has the highest rate in the region. The rate has also increased in Pakistan, albeit from a Shyamsunder Aarti et al. (2015) very low starting point, and is particularly low in the urban areas, while participation has remained relatively stable in Sri Lanka, though the latter has witnessed robust economic growth and strong improvements in social indicators in recent years Ministry of Women and Child Development (2009).
Longer term trends suggest that female labour force participation rates in India have been puzzling. Female participation rates Varkkey (2013) declined from 34.1 per cent in 1999-00 to 27.2 per cent in 2011-12, and wide gender differences in participation rate also persists Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Statistical Year Book India (2015).
Also there are considerable variations between urban and rural areas. The participation rate of rural women decreased from 26.5 per cent in 2009-10 to 25.3 per cent in 2011-12 (usual status definition), while the rate for urban women increased from 14.6 per cent to 15.5 per cent over the same period Figure 1.
Figure 1 Sex Ratio vs Worker Ratio in Various Age Groups
The desk research and secondary data study done till now has left us with some open questions Tables 1- 7:
| Table 1 Workforce Participation Rate | ||||
| YEAR | RURAL Female |
Male | URBAN Female |
Male |
| 2000-2001* | 28.7 | 54.4 | 14.0 | 53.1 |
| 2001-2002* | 31.4 | 54.6 | 13.9 | 55.3 |
| 2002* | 28.1 | 54.6 | 14 | 53.4 |
| 2004-05 | 32.7 | 54.6 | 16.6 | 54.9 |
| 2005-06* | 31.0 | 54.9 | 14.3 | 54.0 |
| 2007-08* | 28.9 | 54.8 | 13.8 | 55.4 |
| 2009-10 | 26.1 | 54.7 | 13.8 | 54.3 |
| 2011-12 | 24.8 | 54.3 | 14.7 | 54.6 |
| Table 2 Main Workers in Various Age Groups in Rural and Urban India | ||||||
| Age Group | RURAL Sex Ratio |
Female Male Worker Ratio | URBAN Sex Ratio |
Female Male Worker Ratio | TOTAL Sex ratio |
Female Male Worker Ratio |
| 5-14 | 919 | 683 | 896 | 503 | 913 | 634 |
| 15-29 | 928 | 390 | 928 | 232 | 928 | 336 |
| 30-59 | 973 | 381 | 930 | 223 | 958 | 323 |
| 15-59 | 952 | 384 | 929 | 226 | 944 | 327 |
| 60+ | 1036 | 319 | 1027 | 209 | 1033 | 292 |
| Total | 949 | 381 | 929 | 227 | 943 | 327 |
| Table 3 Women Employment in Organised Sector (Figures in Thousands) | |||||||||
| Year | Public Sector | Private Sector | Total | ||||||
| Women | Total | %Women | Women | Total | %Women | Women | Total | %Women | |
| 1995 | 2600.4 | 19466.3 | 13.4 | 1627.5 | 8058.5 | 20.2 | 4227.9 | 27524.7 | 15.4 |
| 2000 | 2857.0 | 19313.7 | 14.8 | 2065.8 | 8646.0 | 23.9 | 4922.8 | 27959.7 | 17.6 |
| 2005 | 2921.0 | 18006.6 | 16.2 | 2095.3 | 8452.3 | 24.8 | 5016.2 | 26458.6 | 19.0 |
| 2010 | 3196.0 | 17862.0 | 17.9 | 2662.5 | 10846.0 | 24.5 | 5858.6 | 28708.0 | 20.4 |
| 2011 | 3171.0 | 17548.0 | 18.1 | 2783.0 | 11452.0 | 24.3 | 5954.0 | 28999.0 | 20.5 |
| Table 4 Women Employment as Per Industrial Activity | ||||||
| Industrial Activity | Public Sector | Private Sector | ||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing &Hunting(0) | 56.2 | 60.2 | 59.6 | 410.3 | 416.6 | 430.8 |
| Mining &Quarrying(1) | 75.9 | 86.6 | 82.8 | 6.9 | 23.9 | 7.2 |
| Manufacturing(2&3) | 79.3 | 83.0 | 77.4 | 910.3 | 947.2 | 966.7 |
| Electricity,Gas &Water(4) | 51.2 | 58.0 | 56.4 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| Construction(5) | 61.2 | 68.5 | 65.4 | 5.2 | 6.3 | 7.1 |
| Wholesale&Retail Trade and Restaurants&Hotels(6) | 13.7 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 54.0 | 59.5 | 70.0 |
| Transport,Storage &Communications(7) | 190.0 | 190.0 | 190.0 | 17.1 | 24.2 | 27.3 |
| Financing, Insurance, Real Estate& Business Services(8) | 212.0 | 225.2 | 222.4 | 329.8 | 372.6 | 417.1 |
| Community, Social& personal Services(9) | 2502.1 | 2352.7 | 2363.5 | 749.2 | 848.2 | 850.6 |
| Total | 3241.6 | 3138.8 | 3131.3 | 2485.7 | 2701.5 | 2779.9 |
| Table 5 Percent Women Employed in Various Bank-Groups at Various Levels in Scheduled Commercial Banks | |||||
| Bank Group | Officers | Clerks | Sub-ordinates | Total | |
| State Bank of India &It’s Associates | 7% | 12% | 9% | 10% | |
| Nationalised Banks | 8% | 10% | 12% | 10% | |
| Foreign Banks | 13% | - | - | 13% | |
| Regional Rural Banks | 3% | 7% | 6% | 5% | |
| Private Sector Banks | 14% | 19% | 11% | 15% | |
| All Scheduled Commercial Banks | 7% | 10% | 10% | 9% | |
| State Bank of India &It’s Associates | 11% | 24% | 10% | 17% | |
| Nationalised Banks | 12% | 11% | 14% | 12% | |
| Foreign Banks | 17% | - | - | 17% | |
| Regional Rural Banks | 6% | 16% | 5% | 10% | |
| Private Sector Banks | 14% | 27% | 14% | 18% | |
| All Scheduled Commercial Banks | 12% | 17% | 12% | 14% | |
| State Bank of India &It’s Associates | 15% | 38% | 11% | 24% | |
| Nationalised Banks | 20% | 23% | 14% | 20% | |
| Foreign Banks | 32% | 52% | 7% | 33% | |
| Regional Rural Banks | 9% | 26% | 7% | 15% | |
| Private Sector Banks | 23% | 31% | 17% | 25% | |
| All Scheduled Commercial Banks | 21% | 29% | 13% | 23% | |
| State Bank of India &It’s Associates | 13% | 30% | 10% | 20% | |
| Nationalised Banks | 17% | 18% | 13% | 17% | |
| Foreign Banks | 32% | 52% | 7% | 33% | |
| Regional Rural Banks | 4% | 11% | 6% | 7% | |
| Private Sector Banks | 21% | 30% | 16% | 23% | |
| All Scheduled Commercial Banks | 17% | 22% | 12% | 18% | |
| Table 6 Employment Exchange Statistics of Women Job Seekers | |||
| Year | Live Register Women |
Total Live Register | %of Live Register of Women to Total Live Register |
| 2003 | 10752.3 | 41388.7 | 26.0% |
| 2004 | 10711.6 | 40457.6 | 26.5% |
| 2005 | 10605.6 | 39347.8 | 27.0% |
| 2006 | 11781.0 | 41466.0 | 28.4% |
| 2007 | 12001.5 | 39974.0 | 30.0% |
| 2008 | 12328.2 | 39114.9 | 31.5% |
| 2009 | 12404.7 | 38152.2 | 32.5% |
| 2010 | 12927.6 | 38829.0 | 33.3% |
| 2011 | 13694.8 | 40171.6 | 34.1% |
| 2012 | 15645.8 | 44790.1 | 34.9% |
| Table 7 Number of Educated Job-Seekers (10th Standard & Above) by Educational Level | ||||
| Education Level | Men | Women | Total | % of Each Stream To Total Graduate & Above |
| 10th Class Passed | 9632.7 | 5715.3 | 15348 | |
| 10th + 2 Passed | 6304.5 | 3373.1 | 9677.6 | |
| Graduates & Post-Graduates | ||||
| Arts | 1819.1 | 1048.2 | 2867.3 | 40.5 |
| Science | 839.9 | 483.9 | 1323.8 | 18.7 |
| Commerce | 660.3 | 380.5 | 1040.7 | 14.7 |
| Engineering | 184.2 | 106.1 | 290.3 | 4.1 |
| Medicine | 40.4 | 23.3 | 63.7 | 0.9 |
| Veterinary | 4.5 | 2.6 | 7.1 | 0.1 |
| Agriculture | 31.4 | 18.1 | 49.5 | 0.7 |
| Law | 18 | 10.4 | 28.3 | 0.4 |
| Education | 678.3 | 390.8 | 1069.1 | 15.1 |
| Others | 215.6 | 124.2 | 339.8 | 4.8 |
| Sub Total | 4491.7 | 2588.1 | 7079.6 | 100 |
| TOTAL | 20428.9 | 11676.5 | 32105.2 | |
1. Why is the Work Participation Rate so low in India as compared to other countries in the world when more females are getting higher education these days?
2. Why are females so less in the mainstream Urban Organized Sector?
3. What are the reasons behind the above two issues so as to sort them out and achieve equality for women in India and thereafter growth of the country?
4. Is there a need to build-up an Employment-Policy for females who at present choose to sit at home for some family responsibilities but are educated enough to earn and share the financial responsibilities but can’t work full-time at the same time ?
Some of the Census data
Population Statistics
➢ As per Census 2001, female workers constituted 25.63 per cent of the total working population Indiastat (2011).
➢ At All-India level the percentage share of females as cultivators, Agricultural labourers, workers in the household industry and other workers stood at 32.93, 38.87, 6.46 and 21.75 respectively.
➢ The percentage of female main workers to total female population stood at 14.68 which shows a decline as compared to 15.93 reported in the 1991 Census.
➢ Literacy rate amongst females was reported at 65.46 per cent which was less than the male literacy rate i.e. 82.14 per cent in the 2011 census.
➢ Work participation rate of female workers in rural areas was higher which stood at 30.79 as compared to the work participation rate of 11.88 per cent in urban areas.
Employment Statistics
➢ Average daily employment of women in factories was 8.41 percent during the year 2008. The majority of Women workers i.e. 85,228 worked above 45 hours and upto 48 hours per week in the factories during the year 2008.
Employment Service and Training Statistics
➢ During the year, 2010 total number of women applicants on live register was reported at 129.24 lacs which constituted 33.3 per cent of the total number of applicants on live register.
➢ Proportion of educated women job-seekers to total women on live register was reported at 78.1 percent during the year 2009.
➢ Percentage of women is highest in communications & IT sector with 15.75 %.
➢ Percentage of placement to registration of women job-seekers has increased from 2.7 per cent in 2009 to 5.3 per cent in 2010.
Wages & Earnings Statistics
➢ At All-India level, wages/salaries per man day worked for directly employed women worker was reported at Rs.131.23 whereas it is almost double for their men counterpart (Rs.258.04) for the year 2008-09.
➢ The wages/salaries per man day worked for directly employed women workers were Rs.260.81,Rs.244.13 and Rs.126.50 in Public sector, joint sector and private sector respectively, whereas for men workers it was much higher i.e. Rs.430.87, Rs.329.34 and Rs.242.46 respectively during 2008-09.
Trade Unions Statistics
➢ Percentage of women membership to total membership was reported at 22.5 per cent during the year 2008.
➢ Numbers of registered Trade Unions were 84642 during the year 2008.
➢ Out of these only 9709 unions submitted the returns during the year 2008.
➢ Percentage share of women to total membership of central unions and state unions was 12.63 per cent and 24.19 per cent respectively for the year 2008 and for the year 2007, it was 6.28 and 27.34 respectively.
Research Objective
1. To Frame an Employment-Policy, considering the problems and concerns of a female workforce (family issues like care of old parents/in-laws, children, pregnancy, post pregnancy, other health and family concerns).
2. To look into the amount of contribution of this inclusion towards Work Participation Rate and India’s Growth.
Research Methodology
Primary research is done on the following broad information areas:
a. Changes in the present employment-Policy and creating new jobs for involving and engaging women in part-time/full-time/work from home type of jobs.
b. Inclusive growth of women in areas like education, employment, hotel industry, services industries like Insurance, outsourcing ,Beauty, catering, etc.
This will be conducted across four cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Gwalior, etc. with a structured questionnaire. The respondents will include, Females who are struggling with their present jobs to continue, their family, their employers, HR Specialists, Finance Specialists from private as well as public sector, etc. who all can better help us in framing and commenting on the changes in the Employment-Policies in India. The Sample size can vary between 100-150 nos. (likely to increase if required).
After the careful analysis of data, we will be able to decide better about the direction of changes expected in the present policies for increased female participation. The factual data can be analysed rigorously with the help of statistical tools.
Justification and Novelty
The project is justified for equality and dignity of Indian Women after 69 years of Independence. Although importance of female education has been felt by private as well as government organizations, yet things are to be improvised, documented and formalized in black and white for the employment of these females we are hereby considering countries like Norway, United States of America, Brazil, France, Belgium, etc. where women are not discriminated and never asked to choose between job and family. In fact , systems are arranged in place to give a supportive environment to let them work.
Conclusion
The research will come out with a policy for accommodating women employees in urban sector with the options of working full-time/ part-time/ Flexi-jobs, Work from Home, etc. so that they can contribute like their men counterparts. Models for other difficulties (like child-care, elderly-care, time-difficulties, other family responsibilities) are also to be taken into consideration.
Specifications like Optional Part-time Work Policy; Early Child-care; Toddler Care; Leave Structure; Work Structures; Salary Structure, etc. will make the research more sound for consideration. Equality for choices to work for women and not compromising just because of family responsibilities is the sole motto of this research. Thus, women will also contribute to the economy of India and make it more developed.
Now is the time of IOT(Internet of Things) and therefore many of the activities, jobs, actions can be conveniently taken care by technology and women can concentrate more on earnings and empowerment.
References
Blumberg, R.L. (2005, August). Women’s economic empowerment as the magic potion of development. In 100th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August, Philadelphia.
Central Intelligence Agency (Ed.). (2011). The World Factbook 2011. Central Intelligence Agency.
Delloitte, (2015), “Women in Boardroom: A Global Perspective”.
Indiastat, (2011)" State-wise Population by Residence and Sex in India (As per 2011 Census)."
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Statistical Year Book India (2015), "Table 2.1 Area and Population by States (Census 2011)” (2015).
Ministry of Women and Child Development, G. O. F. I. (2009). Gendering Human Development Indices: Recasting the Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure for India, Summary Report.
Panda, P., & Agarwal, B. (2005). Marital violence, human development and women’s property status in India. World development, 33(5), 823-850.
Shyamsunder Aarti, Pollack Alixandra and Travis Dnika, Catalyst (2015), “India Inc: From Intention to Impact”.
Varkkey, B. (2013). Gender Pay Gap in the Formal Sector: 2006-2013, Preliminary Evidences From Paycheck India Data.
Woetzel, J., Madgavkar, A., Gupta, R., Manyika, J., Ellingrud, K., Gupta, S., & Krishnan, M. (2015). The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in India. McKinsey Global Institute.
Received: 19-Aug-2022, Manuscript No. AMSJ-22-12461; Editor assigned: 22-Aug-2022, PreQC No. AMSJ-22-12461(PQ); Reviewed: 05-Sep-2022, QC No. AMSJ-22-12461; Revised: 12-Sep-2022, Manuscript No. AMSJ-22-12461(R); Published: 22-Oct-2022