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various educational and family commitments of persons. So a very high FLPR of this kind may not SOCIAL SERVICE
be feasible. However, it cannot be ignored that less women in labour force means under-utilization of
human resources that holds back productivity and economic growth

Female Workforce Participation Rate (FWPR) – An Interstate Comparison

4.214 The women of Kerala outperform their counterparts in many developmental indicators. But in
the case of economically active persons, the statistics is not favourable to women. As per the data
of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation based on Census of India 2011, while
the average female workforce participation rate is 25.51 in India, that of Kerala is only 18.23. A
comparison is provided in table below –

Table 4.14
Work Participation Rate

Year India Kerala
Male
1981 Total Male Female Total Female
1991 44.9 16.6
2001 36.70 52.62 19.67 30.5 47.6 15.9
2011 50.40
37.50 51.61 22.27 31.4 52.73 15.38
18.23
39.22 51.75 25.79 32.30

39.79 53.26 25.51 34.78

Source: Source – Census of India

4.215 The FWPR of Kerala is one of the lowest in the country, and far below the national level.
Moreover, WPR of females is much lower than that of males. FWPR has been increasing in India
and Kerala, but the growth of FWPR in Kerala is very slow. Kerala stands first in human development
among the Indian states. But the wide gender gap in the WPR pulls down our gender equality in
human development.

4.216 Himachal Pradesh with a female workforce participation rate of 44.82 is the best performer.
It is surprising that the North-eastern states like Nagaland, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal
Pradesh and Meghalaya have higher FWPR than Kerala. Hence it is high time to have a relook at
our strategies in this direction and perhaps learn from experiences elsewhere.

Self employment for Better FWPR: Lessons from Other States

4.217 The strength of the labour force and workforce determine the extent of economically active
population. These are decided by various socio economic factors. In the case of Kerala, both Female
Labour force Participation Rate and Female Workforce Participation Rate are low and the economic
policies must aim to scale up both. The women should be promoted to enter labour force first and
into workforce subsequently. The social and economic outlook should be moulded accordingly. When
the employment opportunities of the state favour manual labourers, venturing into self employment
opportunities seems more feasible to educated women of Kerala. Fighting the odds thrust upon them
by circumstances, women of other states, especially the North-eastern states, have taken up self-
employment on a massive scale. Their markets are flooded with small or household ventures led by
women of the locality. The percentage of self-employed in total workforce is higher in these states,
especially in rural areas. It increases their FWPR. A comparison is given in the table below.

Economic Review 2014