Analysis | As India's population booms, where are its working women? Premium
The Hindu
India is set to become the world's most populous country in April 2023, but despite the booming economy, female workforce has shrunk and women-friendly jobs are in short supply
Pinky Negi, an Indian teacher with two master's degrees, loved her old job at a public school in the Himalayan foothills. But then she did what millions of Indian women do every year — gave up her career when she got married and had children.
"The idea of not earning pinches me the most when I have to ask for the smallest of things," said Ms. Negi, who briefly tried home tutoring before the birth of her second child led her to give up work altogether.
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"Even if I have to ask my husband, it is still asking someone else," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in New Delhi at an office of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a union group that helps women find work.
Ms. Negi's experience is common in India, where women have been dropping out of the workforce even at a time of strong growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.
The country is set to become the world's most populous as the United Nations forecasts its population to touch 1.43 billion on April 14, overtaking China on that day.
Economists say that means India, which is home to the highest number of working-age people, must not only create more jobs to keep its world-beating growth on track, but also foster employment conditions favourable to women.