“Without economic freedom other aspects of women equality would not be realized” – Jawaharlal Nehru
Women’s work participation rate in general has been declining over the decades. The decline has occurred due to several factors:
- Absence of comprehensive and rational policy for women’s emancipation through education, training and access to resources such as land, credit and technology etc.
- The perception of male as the breadwinner of the family despite the fact that in low income households women’s income is crucial for sustenance. This perception adversely affects women’s education & Employers also visualize women workers as supplementary workers & also cash in on this perception to achieve their capitalistic motives by keeping the wage low for women.
- Structural changes in the economy e.g decline in traditional rural industries or industrialization.
- Lack of assets (land, house) in their own name in order to have access to credit and self- employment opportunities
- Huge demand of time and energy of women for various tasks at home like child bearing and rearing etc in addition to participation in labour force leave them with little time for education, training and self-development
- Division of labour based on the gender between men and women & technological advancements work against women. They are the last to be hired and first to be sacked.
- programs to increase employment and productivity are focused more on men & women are seen as beneficiaries rather than active participants
