Non-Agricultural Employment for Young Women in India

Abstract

The issue whether young women can undertake non-agricultural activities has been analysed in the paper with the help of data obtained from young women and key stakeholders in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh through survey, participatory rural appraisal and discussions. Nearly three-fourths of the households, characterised by larger dependency ratio and unemployment, stated that their young women in need of alternative economic activity. A larger proportion of young women preferred to undertake activities relating to manufacturing and services, not entirely because of growth and demand, but due to non-economic factors. The paper has argued that socio-economic factors at the household and village levels together with frozen parental expectations determine the choice of economic activity.