Explain the gap between official and international estimates of female labour force participation in India. What does it reveal about the nature of women's work?

India's official Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) shows female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) rising from 23.3% (2017–18) to about 40% (2025) [1]. The World Bank puts it at 35.3% in 2025 [2]. The gap comes mainly from how "work" is defined, and it shows that much of women's work is real but invisible and unpaid.

Explaining the gap

• Definition of employment: under the ILO's 19th ICLS standards, "employment" covers only work done for pay or profit. Producing goods or services for the household's own use is counted as a separate form of work [3]. PLFS counts unpaid helpers in household enterprises as workers.
• Reference period: PLFS "usual status" counts women who did even subsidiary work during the year. International estimates are harmonised to ILO standards, which capture fewer women doing occasional or seasonal work.
• Modelled vs survey data: international agencies adjust national data so countries can be compared. This narrows India's headline figure.

What it reveals about women's work

• Growth led by self-employment: an analysis by the Labour Ministry's research institute attributes the rise in FLFPR largely to self-employment, especially in rural areas [4]. This category includes unpaid family helpers.
• Counted, but not paid: a woman who helps on a family farm she does not own is counted in the data. She earns no income and holds no asset of her own, so her bargaining power at home does not change.
• Heavy care burden: women spend 289 minutes a day on unpaid domestic services, against 88 minutes for men [5]. Paid work is added on top of this burden instead of replacing it.
• Distress, not just choice: if rural women's participation rises without a matching rise in decent jobs, they may be working because household incomes are low, not because they have more opportunity.
• Lost potential: the World Bank estimates that raising FLFPR to 50% could add about 1 percentage point to annual GDP growth [2].

In short, the gap is less a statistical error than evidence that women's participation is being counted before it is paid. The way forward is to report employment by status (regular salaried and own-account work, not only the headline rate), use Time Use Survey data alongside PLFS, and expand skilling, such as PM-SETU's target of at least 25% women in ITIs [2]. These steps would turn counted work into paid, dignified work, in line with SDG 5 and SDG 8 and the goals of Viksit Bharat@2047.