India’s female labour force participation rate has risen sharply per the latest PLFS but remains driven largely by unpaid agricultural work. Critically evaluate the drivers and policy gaps.

Introduction:

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24 reports India's Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR, usual status, 15+) at 41.7%, up sharply from 23.3% in 2017-18. Yet Economic Survey 2024-25 notes that 76% of rural women workers are in agriculture, mostly as unpaid family helpers, qualifying the headline gain as a statistical revival rather than structural empowerment.

Composition of the rise: The increase is concentrated in self-employed and unpaid family helper categories, which together exceed 65% of women workers (PLFS 2023-24). Regular-wage women workers grew only marginally (15.9%), and urban FLFPR remains stuck at 25.2%, signalling weak job-creation in formal manufacturing and services.

Structural drivers: Distress-driven re-entry during the post-pandemic farm-income squeeze, MGNREGA participation (54% women, FY25, Ministry of Rural Development), and Self-Help Group expansion under DAY-NRLM (10 crore women, March 2026) explain the spike. Care-economy burden — Indian women spend 297 minutes daily on unpaid work (Time Use Survey 2019) versus 31 for men — caps formal participation.

Policy levers: Code on Social Security 2020, Mission Shakti's Samarthya pillar, PM-DAKSH skilling for 8.5 lakh women, and the Maternity Benefit Act amendment (26 weeks) need scale. The Lakhpati Didi target of 3 crore women by 2027 must shift from subsistence to enterprise productivity.

Way forward:

The Ministry of Women and Child Development should converge Mission Shakti, Palna creches and the National Care Policy 2026 with the Labour Ministry's Code on Social Security to deliver formal employment for 2 crore women by 2030.