The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has recently released a report the Women and Men in India 2022 report.
According to the report, India’s sex ratio is expected to improve significantly from 943 in 2011 to 952 by 2036. Sex ratio is the number of females per 1,000 males.
However, gender disparity in labor force participation rates in the country is a major highlight of the report.
Improvement in Sex Ratio
The MoSPI report revealed that the sex ratio at birth increased by three points to 907 in 2018-20 from 904 in 2017-19. Though India’s sex ratio is forecast to improve to 952 by 2036, the report says that women are severely lagging behind when it comes to labor force participation rate.
This phenomenon is visible in spite of the fact that India’s Labour Force Participation Rate for those above 15 years of age has been on the rise since 2017-2018.
Labour Force Participation Rate is defined as the percentage of persons in the labour force in the population.
The Participation Rate was 77.2 for males and 32.8 for females in 2021-22, with no improvement in this disparity over the years,
The low participation of women in India’s labour force is attributed to
1. Social factors
2. Educational qualifications
3. Gender discrimination in terms of wages and opportunities at work place
According to the report men in rural areas earn more than women in urban areas.
Population Trends
The population growth, already on a downward trend from 2.2 per cent in 1971 to 1.1 per cent in 2021, is projected to fall further to 0.58 per cent in 2036.
The The MoSPI report features India’s age and sex structure, as per which the population under 15 years of age is expected to decline and the population above 60 years is expected to increase by 2036.
As a corollary, the population pyramid will undergo a shift as the base of the pyramid in 2036 would narrow down, while the middle would be broadened.
Improvement in Age-Specific Fertility Rate
The age-specific fertility rate for the 20-24 years and 25-29 years age group between 2016 and 2020 reduced from 135.4 and 166.0 to 113.6 and 139.6 respectively.
The age-specific fertility rate is defined in the report as the number of live births in a specific age group of women per thousand female individuals of that age group.
This improvement in Age-Specific Fertility Rate is likely due to economic independence by attaining proper education and securing a job.
