Women face roadblocks to re-enter job market in India

The number of female employees who re-joined and re-subscribed to the Employees’ Provident Fund this June was negligible.
By: | September 1, 2022
Topics: DE&I | Health and Wellness | India | News

Only 18.7% of workers who re-joined and re-subscribed to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in June are women, a slight improvement from 18% in April and 17.7% in May, showed payroll data from India’s National Statistical Office.

In contrast, 26.6% of new subscribers to EPF are women, which signals that women who are new to the workforce have a better chance to enter the job market than those who want to re-join the workforce, wrote Business Standard. 

The share of fresh female EPF subscribers is the highest for those over the age of 35, at 31.3%, and the lowest in the 18-25 age group, at 23.5%. 

READ: India pushes for more flexible work and empowerment for women

Meanwhile, the share of women in net payroll additions registered 22% in June, compared to 19.9% in May. 

“The need of the hour is flexible workplaces, work-from-home ecosystem and flexible work hours. We can utilise systems like a flexible workplace as an opportunity to increase women’s labour force participation. By making the right use of women power, India can achieve its goals faster,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last week.