NEW DELHI: India needs an additional 400 million women in the workforce by fiscal year 2047 to contribute $14 trillion to the economy, nearly doubling the current female labour force participation rate (LFPR) from 37 per cent to 70 per cent, according to a new report by The/Nudge Institute.
According to The Labour Force Participation Distillation Report, based on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data over the years, only 110 million women are projected to join the workforce by 2047, leaving a gap of 145 million women needed to meet the target.
The report reveals significant disparities between men and women in job security and recovery. Women are seven times more likely to lose their jobs and eleven times more likely not to recover from job loss. By 2020, nearly half of the women employed in 2019 had exited the workforce, the report read.
Women are predominantly employed in low-productivity sectors like agriculture and manufacturing, where advancement opportunities are limited. In the construction sector, women make up just over 12 per cent of the workforce and often earn less than men in unskilled roles. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened these issues, forcing many rural women back into the workforce due to income loss or job loss by primary earners, highlighting the fragility of female employment.
The report identifies three key pathways to increase female labour force participation.

According to PTI, Director & Head of The/Nudge Prize, Kanishka Chatterjee said: “India’s demographic dividend and dreams of a $30 trillion economy cannot be realised without boosting the participation of women in the workforce.”
He noted the progress made but stressed the need for urgent and sustained action to overcome economic, social, and cultural barriers. The/Nudge Prize team analyzed all of the PLFS data across the last two cycles of different sectors that are contributing to or witnessing higher growth rates to build this report.
“When we looked at PLFS data, we understood what the supply side is or where women or men work today. But there are no other data pointers available where we can clearly see what are the demand markers available in India which will hire women, or which may be better suited for women to take jobs or to drive their entrepreneurial journeys,” the report said.
“One of the key things to consider, if we need to solve or address labour force participation rate, is to have a holistic approach. Not only to see how labour is available and what skills are available, but also to see what is driving demand today — and this is exactly what we also bring out in the report,” it added.