Gender gaps in daily mobility both reflect and reinforce low female labour-force participation. Examine this in light of recent survey evidence.

India's first National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) ran from 2025 to 2026 [1][2]. It found that only 41.9% of female workers make a daily work trip of more than 1 km, against 61.9% of male workers [1]. Female labour-force participation (LFPR) was 40.0% in 2025, against 79.1% for men [3]. Together, these figures suggest that mobility and work affect each other in both directions.

How the mobility gap reflects low participation

• Type of work: Many women work on family farms or at home. This work needs little travel, so their lower trip rates partly reflect the jobs they already do.
• Care burden: NHTS recorded trips for domestic work and caregiving [1]. Time spent on these trips leaves less room for jobs far from home.
• The gap is among workers: Both figures count only people who work. So the gap shows that working women stay closer to home, not just that fewer women work [1].

How the mobility gap reinforces low participation

• Fewer jobs within reach: If women can only take jobs within walking distance, fewer employers are open to them, and participation stays low.
• Reliance on private vehicles: Two-wheelers are the main mode for 42.6% of commuting workers. Mass transit carries only 5.0% of urban work commutes [1]. This favours people who own and ride vehicles.
• High cost for slow trips: Urban workers spend ₹1,044 a month on commuting, yet only 79.3% reach work within 30 minutes [1]. When travel costs this much money and time, a job has to pay more to be worth taking.

Limits of the evidence

• The Factsheet does not ask why people do not travel, so it cannot show which way the cause runs [1].
• Trips under 1 km were not recorded, and care trips are not reported separately. Women's travel is therefore probably undercounted [1].

Way forward

• Transit-oriented development: The national TOD Policy plans dense mixed-use development within 500–800 m of transit stations [4]. This would bring jobs within walking distance.
• Buses, footpaths and cycle lanes: These can reach far more women, far sooner, than new metro lines.
• Better data: NSO should release unit-level data broken down by gender and should record trips under 1 km.

The survey shows that women's mobility and women's work are closely linked. Making cities easier and cheaper to move around in can therefore widen the jobs open to women. This would advance SDG 11.2, which calls for transport that is accessible to women, and the Article 39(a) goal of an equal right to a livelihood. Both are needed if more women are to enter the workforce.