BS Number Wise: Jobs added for women, but gender disparity remains

“She-cession” is a word that came up during the pandemic describing women worldwide being laid off or downsizing their careers to take care of families. The pandemic reversed the little gains women had made in economic life.

Coronavirus cases are falling in India and women appear set for better days. Data from Employee Provident Fund, the state-run social security organisation, till December 2021 suggests that women’s employment in the formal economy will increase at double the pace than male net job additions. Female net job additions declined 12.3 per cent in 2020-21, whereas male employment increased 0.6 per cent. The improvement in job additions implies women are closing the gap with men. In 2021-22, one female will hold a job for every four males employed. In 2020-21, the ratio was 1:5.

EPF payroll calculates net additions by taking new job additions, subtracting exits and adding people re-joining employment. Rising net additions for women in 2021-22 will be on the back of a 19.4 per cent increase in new jobs for them, compared to just a 4.4 per cent increase in new jobs for males. New member additions in EPF payroll may not be as good as in 2018-19 and 2019-20, but they will still lead to women accounting for 25 per cent of the jobs in 2021-22, compared to 22.8 per cent in the previous two years.

Rising employment indicates some deeper issues. EPF data shows that the share of jobs for women aged 26 and older was increasing till the pandemic somewhat reversed this gain. In 2018-19, as many as 33.4 per cent of the women who entered the job market were aged 18-21 and 28.4 per cent were in the 22-25 age bracket. In 2021-22, the share of employment increased for women aged 22-25 and 26-28 and declined in all other categories.

On the other hand, the demographic shift of employment from younger to old males has continued. In 2018-19, a majority of jobs went to men aged 18-25, but growth in the last few years has been higher for men aged 26 and above.

Data suggests women’s gains in employment may be in fields that require less specialisation and pay lower wages. The rise in female employment will help bridge the gender gap, but wage parity shall grow if women are getting the low-skill and less-experienced roles.