On Her Own Account: Impact of Strengthening Women's Financial Control
By Erica Field, Rohini Pande, Natalia Rigol, Simone Schaner, and Charity Troyer Moore
October 20, 2021
India is an outlier among countries at a similar level of development with its low rate of women in the workforce – an obstacle to economic growth as well as women’s autonomy. The share of women working or looking for work fell from 32 percent in 2005 to 21 percent in 2019. The same trend was observed for men as well during this period, but they continue to vastly outnumber women in India’s workforce. Several studies suggest Covid-19 may have widened this gap.
Conservative social and cultural attitudes around women’s work could be one of the reasons behind the poor representation of women in India’s workforce. The traditional view that women are expected to stay at home while men are the breadwinners of the family is pervasive, many studies have shown. If social norms keep women out of the workforce, then increasing women’s financial control over their earned income may make work more attractive and encourage them to take up jobs. This can even shift views on working women.