Women’s labour force participation has implications for their economic empowerment and, ultimately, efforts to promote inclusive growth and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is, thus, a priority for policymakers and stakeholders to take a comprehensive view to improve labour market outcomes for women.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Feminist Economist Saturday Discussion Group (FESDIG) brought together a rich panel discussion on India’s low female labour force participation. Dignitaries speaking at the event were M. Sathiyavathy, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment and Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog. The panel was chaired by Prof Bina Agarwal, University of Manchester and comprised of Prof Preet Rustagi, Institute for Human Development (IHD), Prof Santosh Mehrotra, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Dr Ratna Sudarshan, Institute of Social Studies Trust, (ISST).

‘Transformation of Women at Work in Asia – An Unfinished Development Agenda’, an ILO-SAGE book, edited by Sukti Dasgupta and Sher Verick, was also launched. It was followed by a book discussion that was chaired by Dr Sunita Sanghi, Adviser, NITI Aayog. Based on original comparative research and extensive fieldwork, the book illustrates how the labour force participation of women in a number of countries in South Asia has either remained stagnant or has fallen. In East Asia the participation has declined from 70.8 per cent in 1994 to 63.3 per cent in 2014, and in South Asia it has fallen from 36.4 to 30.6 per cent over the same period. Gender gaps in labour force participation have been the highest in South Asia. Findings also show that women across the continent have contributed significantly to its spectacular growth story; yet, social norms and economic factors limit their levels of participation.