INDIA’S WOMEN WORKFORCE DOUBLES TO 201 MILLION, BUT MOST GAINS COME FROM LOW-PAID AND INSECURE JOBS

November 3, 2026

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 3: The number of women employed in India has nearly doubled from 104 million in 2017–18 to 201 million in 2025, but much of the increase has come through agriculture, self-employment and unpaid family labour rather than secure, well-paid jobs, according to a report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

The report, titled The Participation Paradox: Women’s Work and Time-Use in India, 2017–18 to 2025, highlights a growing gap between the expansion of women's workforce participation and the quality of employment available to them. Although the female worker population ratio increased from 22 per cent to 38 per cent during the period, the report found that the growth had not translated into comparable improvements in wages, job security or working conditions.

The increase was particularly pronounced in rural India, where the female worker population ratio rose from 23.7 per cent in 2017–18 to 44.9 per cent in 2025. In urban areas, the increase was more modest, from 18.2 per cent to 25.9 per cent.

Agriculture remained the principal source of employment for rural women. In 2025, approximately 73.3 per cent of employed rural women worked in the primary sector, compared with 70.7 per cent in 2017–18. The number of women engaged in crop and animal production more than doubled, rising from around 54 million to over 100 million.

Self-employment and unpaid family work also accounted for a substantial proportion of the increase. The number of rural women working as own-account workers rose from 13.9 million in 2017–18 to 56 million in 2025, while the number of unpaid family workers increased from 28.8 million to 49.3 million.

In contrast, the proportion of rural women in regular salaried employment declined from 10.5 per cent to 9.3 per cent, despite an increase in their absolute numbers from 7.9 million to 13.9 million. Urban India witnessed a similar, although less pronounced, decline in the share of women employed in regular salaried jobs, from 52.2 per cent to 50.9 per cent.

The report also highlighted a substantial gender wage gap. Rural women earned an average monthly wage of ₹6,596 in 2025, compared with ₹14,632 for rural men. Women's earnings therefore amounted to approximately 45 per cent of men's wages, down from around 53 per cent in 2017–18. The absolute monthly wage difference between rural men and women had widened to more than ₹8,000.

The disparity was also evident in urban areas, where women earned an average of ₹15,646 per month, compared with ₹25,565 for men. The findings suggest that the expansion of women's employment has not eliminated substantial differences in earnings between the sexes.

Working hours presented another concern. The average working week for rural women fell from approximately 40 hours in 2017–18 to 34 hours in 2025, while rural men's average weekly working hours declined from 50 to 47 hours. The report noted that increased workforce participation had not necessarily resulted in more sustained or better-paid employment for women.

Unpaid domestic responsibilities and caregiving continued to restrict women's access to paid employment. According to the study, 60 per cent of women outside the workforce in 2025 cited childcare and personal household commitments as their primary reason for not working. The corresponding figure for men was approximately one per cent.

Data from the India Time Use Surveys of 2019 and 2024 further illustrated the unequal distribution of domestic labour. Women spent approximately 320 minutes daily on unpaid domestic activities, including cooking, cleaning and household maintenance, compared with 97 minutes for men. Women also spent 144 minutes a day on unpaid care work involving children, older people and other household members, against 81 minutes for men.

The report examined data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey for 2017–18 and 2025, alongside Time Use Survey data from 2019 and 2024. It identified two possible explanations for rising rural female employment: economic pressures compelling women to supplement household incomes through low-productivity work, and improved opportunities arising from rural infrastructure, digital access, allied economic activities and government programmes. The study examined both explanations rather than attributing the increase to a single cause.

The findings underline a fundamental challenge for India's labour market: increasing the number of women classified as employed does not automatically ensure economic independence, adequate remuneration or secure working conditions. Expanding access to regular salaried jobs, narrowing the gender wage gap and reducing the unequal burden of unpaid domestic work remain central to improving the quality of women's employment.