More women are self-employed in India, fewer hold salaried jobs

Rural women's workforce participation has fallen to 18%, and the participation of urban women is down to 14%

India’s workforce has fewer women than it did six years ago: no more than 18% in rural areas are employed, compared to 25% in 2011-12 and 14% in urban from 15%. However, in urban areas, the percentage of women in salaried jobs has increased from 35.6% in 2004 to 52.1% in 2017, but continue to be under-represented compared to their presence in self-employed or casual work, according to an analysis of the latest government employment data by Azim Premji University researchers.

Both men and women in rural and urban India are out of work, but there is