Women in the Urban Industrial Labour Force in India

Abstract

Of the several factors behind the decline in women's work participation rates from Census period to Census period, a major factor seem to have been the decline of many traditional industries and services in which women were involved. As a result, several women were forced either completely out of work or into agriculture. Thus, in the rural sector, while the category of agricultural labourers has accounted for an increasing proportion of the women left in the labour force, the manufacturing and services sectors have been showing a drastic decline. In the urban sector, however, since agriculture offered only limited scope for employment, those thrown out of traditional employments had generally little choice but to stay at home, whatever be the economic compulsion.