Women earning less now than six years ago: Jairam
The Congress on Sunday alleged that the women workforce was now earning less than it did six years ago.
Calling it “the sad reality of Amrit Kaal”, Congress General Secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the BJP had been doctoring the data on labour force participation rates of women. Women’s labour force participation ratio (LFPR) is driven due to rural distress and the quality of jobs had deteriorated, he claimed.
“The latest example is the celebration of what is being hailed as the “phenomenal story” of the “steady surge” in the women’s LFPR from 27% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24. This is completely bogus,” Ramesh said.
“The increase in women’s LFPR shown is primarily driven by rural women, whose entry into the labour force is driven by economic distress. The proportion of rural women engaged in self-employment has jumped sharply from 57.7% (2017-18) to 73.5% (2023-24),” he said.
Ramesh claimed that self-employment has risen among urban women also, from 34.8% (2017-18) to 42.3% (2023-24). Unpaid family work by rural and urban women has risen from 31.7% (2017-18) to 36.7% (2023-24). At least 84% of the increase in the total women’s LFPR between 2017-18 and 2023-24 is accounted for by self-employment, which includes unpaid family work, he said.
Ramesh said the share of jobs in the modern services sector like health, education and IT for women has declined since 2021. After adjusting for inflation, the real average monthly wage of self-employed women plummeted by Rs 3,073 between 2017-18 and 2023-24, a drop of 35%. “The real wage of salaried female workers fell by Rs 1,342, or a drop of 7%, over the same period,” he said.
