Amrita Ghose, 27, a fashion designer from Kolkata, recalled that she refused to relocate to Delhi when she got her first job offer letter. She had no option but to wait. Priyanka Agarwal, 32, an IT professional from Pune, has a similar story. Not only them, but many girls from different cities in India have the opinion that they are open to relocate to any city in India for their job, but not Delhi.

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The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) (in per cent) on usual status for females of age 15 years and above has decreased from 16.1 per cent in 2018-19 to 12.9 per cent in 2020-21, while women's workforce participation has gone up on a pan-India level, shows recent data produced by the Ministry of Labour and Employment at the Parliament.

 

Decoding the data 

 

While on one hand, women's workforce participation has gone up in most of the states, Delhi not only accounts for the highest fall, it is also the state with one of the lowest women's workforce participation. Bihar and Delhi are the only states with less than 15 percent women in the WPR in 2021-22, according to the data.

While women's participation grew from nearly 23 per cent to 31 per cent between 2018-19 and 2021-22 on a pan-India basis, it fell in Delhi.

Watch Byju's director Divya Gokulnath speaking on Women's Education in India

 

Household demand

 

According to the experts, the recent pandemic and a host of other factors have led to increased demands on women to attend to the growing needs of their families. As a result, women might be seeking jobs that offer more flexibility, reduced timings, and the ability to work remotely rather than going to a workplace. "In order to reduce travel, women from low-income homes frequently choose employment nearby. In order to fulfil these tasks, women often avoid working outside because they are also in charge of taking care of the elderly, children, and household chores," said Verma.

To this, Shruti Mishra, Senior Vice President at Flags Communications Pvt.Ltd, added, "A recent decline in women workforce in capital city can be attributed to covid lockdown according to me. When everyone sat at home, someone had to take care of the entire family, and who else than a woman?" 

 

Lack of amenities

 

Research shows that childcare amenities like creches at work can really help attract women to the workforce, but even in offices in the capital city, such infrastructure is rare. As of June 30, 2022, only 4,947 creches were functional, according to a reply in the Lok Sabha; as many as 12 states and union territories reported no functional creches. The expenditure on the Anganwadi Services Scheme fluctuated between 2019 and 2022, but the expenditure has remained lower than the revised estimates for the scheme.