ICRIER Report: The Participation Paradox
Why in News?
- The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations released a report titled The Participation Paradox: Women's Work and Time-Use in India, 2017-18 to 2025, The Tribune reported on 31 October 2026.
- It finds that India's female workforce almost doubled from 104 million in 2017-18 to 201 million in 2025.
- The female worker population ratio rose from 22 per cent to 38 per cent over the same period.
- Most of the gain came from low-paid or unpaid work, especially in rural areas, which the report calls a paradox.
Key Terminologies
- Worker Population Ratio
- The share of the population that is working. A rise from 22 per cent to 38 per cent for women means that many more women are counted as workers, whatever the quality of their work.
- Own-Account Worker
- A self-employed person who runs a small enterprise or farm without hiring workers. The earnings are often low and uncertain.
- Unpaid Family Worker
- A person who helps in a family farm or business and receives no wages. Such workers are counted as employed in labour surveys.
- Time Use Survey
- A national survey in which people report how they spend the hours of a day, including unpaid housework and care. It shows work that does not appear in labour force data.
- Participation Paradox
- The situation in which more women are in the workforce, but their jobs, wages and share of care work show little improvement.
Key Issues
- Rural Concentration: The share of rural women employed in agriculture rose from 70.7 per cent to 73.3 per cent, according to the ICRIER report. The number of women in crop and animal production grew from about 54 million to over 100 million.
- Low-Quality Work: Rural own-account women workers rose from 13.9 million to 56 million, and unpaid family workers from 28.8 million to 49.3 million, the report says. The gains came mostly from self-employment and unpaid work.
- Fewer Salaried Jobs: The share of rural women in regular salaried work fell from 10.5 per cent to 9.3 per cent, and for urban women from 52.2 per cent to 50.9 per cent, according to the same report.
- Widening Wage Gap: From 2017-18 to 2025, rural men's wages rose by about 65 per cent and rural women's by about 41 per cent. Rural women now earn about 45 per cent of rural men's earnings, down from about 53 per cent.
- Care Burden: Sixty per cent of women outside the labour force cited childcare and home responsibilities, against 1 per cent of men, and the share was 59 per cent in 2021-22. Women do roughly 3.5 to 4 more hours of unpaid work a day than men.
Key Implications
Positive/Pros/Merits
- Visible Gain: The female workforce of 201 million in 2025 is almost double the 104 million of 2017-18, which means far more women have an income source.
- Urban Wages: Urban women's wages rose about 51 per cent against 57 per cent for urban men, so the urban gap is smaller than in rural areas.
- Large Potential: The report estimates that about 400 million women in the workforce could add nearly USD 14 trillion to the economy by 2047.
- Clear Priorities: The report names concrete steps, such as affordable childcare, paid paternity leave and basic services, which make policy action easier to plan.
Negative/Cons/Demerits
- Poor Job Quality: Higher participation in unpaid or self-employed work does not raise household income by much, so the headline number can overstate progress.
- Marriage Penalty: About 87.6 per cent of married men were in the workforce in 2025, against 37.3 per cent of married women, according to the report.
- Time Poverty: Women's time for self-care and personal development has shrunk, because unpaid work has not fallen.
- Unequal Shift: Rural men moved towards manufacturing and services while women moved towards agriculture, which widens the gap in earnings.
Director's Perspective
Way Forward
- Expand affordable childcare and crèche facilities, as the ICRIER report recommends, so that care work does not push women out of jobs.
- Introduce paid paternity leave and shared parental leave to spread care duties between parents.
- Invest in piped water, clean cooking energy, reliable electricity, sanitation and public transport, which cut women's unpaid workload.
- Create more women's jobs in manufacturing and modern services, with measurable hiring, skilling and leadership targets in industrial corridors and textile parks.
- Track job quality, such as wages and security, along with participation rates.
The report shows that counting more women as workers is not the same as improving their economic position. The increase to 201 million is real, but it rests largely on self-employment, unpaid family work and farm work, while wages and salaried jobs lag. In a Mains answer, credit the rise in participation, then conclude that policy must shift from raising participation to securing productive, paid and safe work, with care services at the centre.
GS Relevance
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the ICRIER Participation Paradox report say?
The ICRIER report, The Participation Paradox, says India's female workforce rose from 104 million in 2017-18 to 201 million in 2025, but most of the gain was in low-paid or unpaid work, as The Tribune reported on 31 October 2026.
By how much did the female worker population ratio rise?
The female worker population ratio rose from 22 per cent to 38 per cent between 2017-18 and 2025, according to the ICRIER report. The rural ratio rose from 23.7 per cent to 44.9 per cent and the urban ratio from 18.2 per cent to 25.9 per cent.
Why do many women stay outside the workforce?
The ICRIER report found that 60 per cent of women outside the labour force cited childcare and home responsibilities, compared with 1 per cent of men. It also found that women do roughly 3.5 to 4 more hours of unpaid work a day than men.
PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis
1 A rise in the worker population ratio always means better quality jobs.
The ICRIER report found that the rise came mostly from own-account and unpaid family work.
2 An unpaid family worker is counted as employed in labour force surveys.
Such workers help in family farms or businesses without wages.
3 According to the ICRIER report, rural women's share in regular salaried work rose between 2017-18 and 2025.
It fell from 10.5 per cent to 9.3 per cent.