Women’s Earnings in India Show Sharp Decline
Women in India face declining wages despite rising participation, with real earnings of salaried and self-employed women stagnating
Chennai: Notwithstanding the GDP growth numbers, the employment levels and earnings of women in India remain pathetic. The average gross earnings of self-employed women has declined 9 per cent in the past seven years, whereas the average earnings of regular wage earning or salaried women has just gone up by 29 per cent. The real wages of these salaried women too has been degrowing in these years.
The low levels of wages and the declining trend points towards the increase in women engaged in unpaid work. In the PLFS, persons who are engaged in any economic activity or who, despite their attachment to economic activity, have temporarily abstained from work are classified as workers. Unpaid helpers who assist in the operation of an economic activity in the household farm or non-farm activities are also considered workers.
In the case of regular wage earning or salaried female employees, the average monthly earnings between July and September 2017 was Rs 13,209 and this just moved up to Rs 17,034 during April-June 2024. When adjusted against the yearly inflation, the real wage growth of these women have been in the negative territory during these years.
While the Labour Force Participation Rate among women has gone up from 22.8 per cent in FY20 to 31.7 per cent in FY24, the current weekly status of LFPR between July and September 2024 was just 20.3 per cent.Worker population ratio among women between July and September 2024 was 18.6 per cent against 14.5 per cent between January and March 2022.
Unemployment rate among women too is higher than men. It was 8.4 per cent during July-September 2024 against 5.7 per cent among men. The unemployment rate was 10.1 per cent among women during January-March 2022.