Employment: India’s female workforce is declining due to epidemic future planet

Note to readers: EL PAÍS 2030 provides the future planetary segment for its daily and global information contribution to the agenda. If you would like to support our magazine, Subscribe here.

The female labor force participation rate in India fell to 16.1% in the July-September quarter of 2020, the lowest in the major economies, reflecting the growing labor crisis caused by the epidemic. When the country of 1,366 million imposed a strict ban on the spread of goiter, the percentage of working women – actively working or looking for work – had already fallen to a record low of 15.5%. -19, according to the report, was released Monday night by the Ministry of Statistics.

According to World Bank estimates, the female labor force participation rate in India has already declined over the past decade: from 26% in 2005 to 20.3% in 2019. In any case, with 30.5%, one per cent higher than neighboring Bangladesh; And Sri Lanka, with 33.7%.

Most female employees in India have low-skilled jobs in agriculture, industry or housing services, areas most severely affected by the epidemic. The female unemployment rate reached 15.8%, compared to 12.6% among male workers in the last quarter of 2020.

Most economic activity in the country has resumed after state governments eased restrictions on corona virus infections (a total of 32 million cases and 426,000 deaths in August) following the May peak. Officials hope the easing will help revitalize the labor market, which, according to data from the Center for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), indicates that the unemployment rate has fallen to 6.95% from 9.17% in July. June. However, some economists warn that slower vaccination (105 million today) and lower consumer demand will affect growth prospects and that pre-Govt levels will not return before March 2022.

You can follow the future of Planeta Twitter, Facebook e Instagram, And subscribe Here A news ‘newsletter’.