India’s Workforce: Where are the women?

The episode explores the question which is at the heart of the series—what keeps Indian women from joining the workforce? According to an IWWAGE report from 2020, only one out of every five women of working age in India were in the workforce. Government data shows that between January to March 2021, women’s presence in the workforce had dropped to 16.9 percent. But what lies behind these numbers?

In this episode, host Sunaina Kumar and Sharon Buteau, Executive Director at LEAD at Krea University, discuss the structural barriers that women face, along with social norms and restrictions on mobility. The majority of the women who work are in the informal sector, their work is invisible and not counted. Besides, the time spent by Indian women on domestic work is 10 ten times more than men.
The pandemic has further widened the gap and affected women’s access to opportunities. How can women prepare for the future of work, and can digitization be more equitable for women?
You can follow Sharon on social media: Twitter: ( https://twitter.com/sharon_buteau )Linkedin: ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-buteau-25b0452/ )
You can follow our host Sunaina Kumar on her social media:Twitter: ( https://twitter.com/sunaina_kumar )Linkedin: ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunaina-kumar )Facebook: ( https://www.facebook.com/sunaina.kumar.37 )
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