Delhi Women's Literacy Rate High, Workforce Participation Low; Why?

The national capital doesn't fare well when it comes to the employment rate, especially for women. According to the latest data, the workforce participation of women in Delhi is less than the average national average. Moreover, the unemployment rate in the city is also higher than the national average rate. The unemployment rate is higher among women as compared to men. Read on to learn more about the data.

According to the data, collected by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) for the year 2021-22, the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) of women in Delhi was 8.8 per cent. But at the national level, it was 24 per cent. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of women in Delhi stood at 9.4 per cent in the same year while at the national level, it was 24.8 per cent. 

Furthermore,  according to the data, 51.9 per cent of men were part of the workforce in 2017-18 which has increased to 54.5 per cent in 2021-22. While for women, it has decreased from 9.9 per cent (registered five years ago) to 8.8 per cent in the year 2021-22.  

The unemployment rate in Delhi is higher than the national level

The unemployment rate in the city was also higher than the national level, the data tells us. The unemployment rate of the capital's male population was 5.1 per cent while on the national level, it was 4.4 per cent. For the female population, the city's unemployment rate was 6 per cent and the corresponding figure on the national level was 3.3 per cent. 

Although the overall workforce participation rate of women in the city is less than men, women seem more keen on getting regular salaried jobs. As per the data, out of the total female workers in Delhi, 83 per cent were in regular wage/salaried jobs, 17 per cent in self-employed categories and 0 in casual labour sector. 

For men in the city, the data was different. Men were more likely to indulge in the self-employed category than the salaried employee category compared to women. Men showed interest in casual labour too.

Out of the total male workers in the city, 33.1 per cent were indulged in the self-employed category, 63.3 per cent in the regular wage/salaried employee category and 3.5 per cent in the casual labour sector. 

The literacy rate of women increased in the city

However, the positive point is that the literacy rate of women has seen an increase in Delhi in the year 2021-22 showing that women are keen on education. As per the data, the gender gap in Rural and Urban areas of Delhi has decreased in the last 10 years- from 12.0% to 7.7% and from 9.2% to 8.7% respectively.