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Informist, Monday, Mar. 9, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The participation of women in paid work is critical for India to sustain around 7% growth over the next 25 years and become a developed economy by 2050, Axis Bank said in a report Monday.

 

To reach the goal of becoming a developed economy, overall workforce participation in paid work needs to grow to nearly 60% from about 47%, Axis Bank said. This can only be achieved with the participation of women, it said. According to the bank's report, 125 million educated women are still outside the workforce and 60% of women graduates opt not to work.

"The window of growth is very narrow for us (India)" as compared to other countries, Neelkanth Mishra, chief economist at Axis Bank and head of global research at Axis Capital, told a press conference Monday. Currently, India's overall female labour force participation rate is among the lowest in the Group of 20 countries. "The countries lower than us are those that have religious barriers to work," Mishra said. Around 60% of women employed in India are engaged in agricultural work, which is without contract or social benefits, Mishra said. Others are either self-employed or in unpaid work. 

There is a near 20?cline in women's workforce participation in India after marriage, the report said. "It is a global challenge," according to the report titled 'The Missing Half: Women and India's Growth Challenge'. "Even in advanced economies, mothers' employment falls around 25?ter childbirth, and earnings around 33%," the authors of the report noted. "About 88% of mothers have taken a break for family or care," Mishra said.

"India is climbing out of the bottom of the 'U' curve formed when countries' participation is plotted against incomes, but the progress is slow given the growth ambitions," as per the report.

India's long-term growth will be well-supported with greater participation of women in the workforce. "Adding 22 percent points to women's workforce participation isn't just a social goal; it is the single most important economic lever we have," Rajkamal Vempati, group executive and head of human resources, Axis Bank, said.  End

 

Reported by Shweta

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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