Why are fewer married women joining the work force in rural India? A decomposition analysis over two decades

In contrast with global trends, India has witnessed a secular decline in women’s employment rates over the past few decades. We investigate this decline in rural areas, where the majority of Indian women reside. Using parametric and semiparametric decomposition techniques, we show that changes in in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of population economics 2018-07, Vol.31 (3), p.783-818
Main Authors: Afridi, Farzana, Dinkelman, Taryn, Mahajan, Kanika
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attributes
Decomposition
Demography
Economic models
Economics
Economics and Finance
Employment
Global trends
Households
Labor
Labor Economics
Labor force
Labor force participation
ORIGINAL PAPER
Population Economics
Rural areas
Rural communities
Social Policy
Wives
Women
Workforce
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Summary:In contrast with global trends, India has witnessed a secular decline in women’s employment rates over the past few decades. We investigate this decline in rural areas, where the majority of Indian women reside. Using parametric and semiparametric decomposition techniques, we show that changes in individual and household attributes fully account for the fall in women’s labor force participation in 1987–1999 and account for more than half of the decline in 1999–2011. Our findings underscore increasing education levels among rural married women and the men in their households as the most prominent attributes contributing to this decline. We provide suggestive evidence that changes in more educated women’s relative returns to home production compared with market production may have adversely affected female labor force participation in rural India.
ISSN:0933-1433
1432-1475
DOI:10.1007/s00148-017-0671-y