WOMEN SPECIAL..... ‘More Female Workers will Boost India’s GDP’

 ‘More Female Workers will Boost India’s GDP’

At 17%, workforce participation less than half of global average

India can improve its economic growth rate by at least 1.5 percentage point if 50% of its women join the workforce, said Annette Dixon, World Bank’s vice president for the South Asia region. But the nation must chart a new course if it has to develop as an inclusive society and reach its full potential.

“Women’s economic empowerment is highly connected to poverty reduction because women tend to invest their earnings in their family’s development and their communities,” Dixon said at The Economic Times Women’s Forum. “The intergenerational benefits of women working in the workforce are profound.”

According to World Bank estimates, India’s women in workforce contribute 17% to GDP, which is less than half the global average. In China, it is as high as 40%. As of 2012, only 27% of Indian women had a job or were actively looking for one, compared with 79% for men.

More worryingly, in the past decade, more than 20 million Indian women — which was equivalent of Sri Lanka’s population — dropped out of the workforce, Dixon said.

While appreciating India’s skill development programme, Dixon said mere skilling was required as women often drop out of the workforce after they become mothers. The society needs to spark interest of young girls in subjects like science and mathematics and convince them that they are just as capable as boys, she said.

Over the last couple of decades, World Bank estimates show, an impressive 133 million Indians had been pulled out of poverty. This number could have been even more dramatic if a greater number of women were contributing to the work force, she said.

“Employers need to talk the walk regarding supporting women in workplace by hiring women and paying them the same wages as they pay men in similar jobs,” Dixon said.

According to the estimates, India ranks low at 120 among 131 countries in female participation rates. Also, rates of gender-based violence remain unacceptably high in India and elsewhere in South Asia, she said.

Saloni.Shukla

ET  19MAR18