Delhi's Unemployment Rate Worsened in Oct-Nov 2020, 83% Women Out of Labour Force: Report

A survey conducted by the Delhi government concluded that unemployment rate in the national capital rose to 28.5 per cent in October-November 2020 compared with 11.1 per cent in January-February.

According to an exclusive report by The Indian Express, 83 per cent women are out of the labour force, while it is 31.6 per cent for men. Among the 83 per cent women unemployed and unavailable for work, 16.6 per cent are graduates, 27.6 per cent have cleared Class 12 and 23.8 per cent have studied till Class 10.

In the case of women, the unemployment rate was 25.6 per cent even before the pandemic, as against 8.7 per cent for males. After the pandemic struck, the female unemployment rate jumped to 54.7 per cent in October-November. It increased to 23.2 per cent in case of men.

The cause of worry prevails across states. India has witnessed a steep fall in the female workforce. Close to 2 crore Indian women quit work between 2004-05 and 2011-12, while 2.4 crore men joined the workforce in the same period. The labour force participation rate for women of working age declined from 42 per cent in 1993-94 to 31 per cent in 2011-12.

Based on Census 2011, analysed by News18, women living in urban parts of the country are involved in household chores more than their counterparts in rural areas.

According to Census 2011 data and the latest round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), rural women make up 81.29 per cent of the female workforce in India. The statistic includes both marginal and main workers. The Census describes main workers as those who are employed for most parts of the year.

Most of these women are agricultural labourers who work on someone else’s land in return for wages. Interestingly, close to 56 per cent of the employed rural women are illiterate. The number of illiterate urban working women is 28 percentage points lower.

In Delhi, The Indian Express report states that among those employed, seven per cent were earning less than Rs 5,000 a month in January-February. Their share rose to 13 per cent by October and the share of those earning between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 a month dropped from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.

Age-wise break up shows that unemployment is highest in the 15-25 age bracket.

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