India’s female labour-force participation rate rose from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24, but job quality has not improved at the same pace. Examine the role of unpaid care work and policy choices.
Subtopic: Indian Society · Women and Gender
How to structure your answer
Introduction: PLFS 2023-24 reports FLFPR at 41.7%, an 18-point rise in six years; the headline conceals a quality problem.
Body — weigh evidence: (1) Composition: most of the rise sits in unpaid family labour and self-employment in agriculture; salaried regular wage share for women fell to 15.9%. (2) Care burden: NSO Time Use Survey 2024 — women do 289 minutes a day of unpaid domestic work, men 88 minutes (3.3x gap). (3) Policy: Maternity Benefit Amendment 2017, Anganwadi crches under Mission Saksham Anganwadi, Code on Wages 2019, Lakhpati Didi scheme; missing pieces — universal childcare, paid eldercare, social security for gig and self-employed women.
Conclusion: Diane Elson’s ‘recognise, reduce, redistribute’ frame for care work is the missing third pillar; without it, FLFPR rises will keep being counted, not paid.
Written within the word limit
223 words · target 250 words · 14 min
Introduction:
The Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-24 reports India's female labour force participation rate at 41.7 per cent, an 18-point rise from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18. The headline conceals a quality problem: the rise sits overwhelmingly in unpaid family labour, not in salaried regular wage employment.
Composition of the rise:
Most additional women workers are own-account workers and unpaid family helpers in agriculture; the regular wage and salaried share for women has fallen to 15.9 per cent against 23.5 per cent for men. The U-shaped curve hypothesis predicted a developmental rebound, but it has come through distress self-employment, not formal jobs.
Care burden:
The NSO Time Use Survey 2024 shows women perform 289 minutes a day of unpaid domestic and care work against 88 minutes for men — a 3.3-fold gap that no labour reform can outflank. ASHA and Anganwadi workers exemplify care labour that the wage system does not count.
Policy choices:
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 extended leave to 26 weeks; the Code on Wages 2019 and Code on Social Security 2020 expanded coverage; Mission Saksham Anganwadi, Poshan 2.0 and the Lakhpati Didi scheme (3 crore women target) operate on the supply side. Missing pieces remain — universal childcare, paid eldercare, and social security for gig and self-employed women.
Conclusion:
Diane Elson's "recognise, reduce, redistribute" frame for care work is the missing third pillar; without it, rising FLFPR will keep being counted, not paid.
What an examiner expects to see
- PLFS 2023-24: FLFPR 41.7%, up from 23.3% in 2017-18
- Women’s regular wage share 15.9%, men’s 23.5%
- Time Use Survey 2024 — women 289 min/day unpaid care, men 88 min
- Maternity Benefit Amendment 2017 — 26 weeks leave
- Code on Wages 2019, Code on Social Security 2020
- Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
- Lakhpati Didi target of 3 crore women
- Diane Elson’s ‘recognise, reduce, redistribute’
- U-shaped curve hypothesis in development economics
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- ASHA and Anganwadi workers — care labour outside wage system
- Self-Help Groups under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - NRLM
- Tamil Nadu MGNREGS — women over 50% of workdays
- Kerala’s Kudumbashree network