Gender Differences in Labour Force Participation and Employment in India: An ILOSTAT-Based Analysis
- Kumaravel M Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India, India
- P. Natarajamurthy Professor, Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India, India
-
J.A. Arul Chellakumar
*
Professor (Retd.), Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India,
India
Abstract
This study examines gender differences in labour-force participation and employment in India over the period 2015–2024, drawing on annual data from the International Labour Organization’s ILOSTAT database and ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST). It considers female, male and total labour-force participation rates, employment-to-population ratios, unemployment rates and youth unemployment to trace changes in India’s labour-market outcomes across the study period. A descriptive and analytical research design is employed, using trend analysis, descriptive statistics and a paired-samples t-test. The results show a notable rise in female labour-force participation, from 26.58% in 2015 to 32.42% in 2024, although male participation continued to remain considerably higher. As a result, the gender gap in labour-force participation narrowed from 51.46 to 45.17 percentage points. Female employment-to-population ratio likewise rose from 24.54% to 31.09%, but the employment gap between women and men remained substantial. By 2024, however, female and male unemployment rates had moved relatively close to each other. Youth unemployment also fell markedly, declining from 24.96% in 2015 to 15.75% in 2024, though it remained considerably above the overall unemployment rate. The paired-samples t-test yielded a t-value of 70.085 with 9 degrees of freedom and a p-value below 0.001, resulting in the rejection of the null hypothesis. The study concludes that women’s participation in the labour market and their employment outcomes have improved, but considerable gender disparities persist, particularly in labour-force participation and employment.
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