61% of women workers are engaged in agriculture.

March 09, 2026: Plummeting fertility is narrowing the window for India to get rich before it gets old. Many more women need to enter and progress in paid work, according to a new study released by Axis Bank. 

Titled “The Missing Half: Women and India’s Growth Challenge”, the report draws on global evidence, deep analysis of Indian data, and a proprietary survey of nearly 11,000 college-educated women across 42 Indian cities.

The report argues that to sustain a growth of around 7% over 25 years, necessary for ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2050, overall worker participation in paid work must rise from about 47% to nearly 60%. Women’s participation in paid work will be critical to achieving this.

However, at present, India has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in paid work among G20 economies. Further, even employed women are mostly in agriculture, self-employed, or in unpaid work.

· ~60% of women in paid work are in informal arrangements without contracts or social security benefits. 61% of women workers are engaged in agriculture.

· 125 million educated women are outside the workforce with 60% of graduates opting to stay out of paid work

· Studies show a ~20% drop in women’s workforce participation in India post marriage

· Participation falls further after childbirth. It is a global challenge: even in advanced economies mothers’ employment falls ~25% after childbirth, and earnings ~33%

· 61% of surveyed women cite safety and mobility as the top barrier to entering the workforce.

The report finds 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. Recent improvements in household infrastructure -- electricity, clean cooking fuel, piped water and better housing -- have eased unpaid work burdens, and rising higher education enrolment among women, is softening the “marriage penalty.”