Gender and Economic Policy Discussion Forum:
The Politics and Economics of FDI through a Gender Lens
FDI and Women Employment in India
1
BY
ARPITA MUKHERJEE
DEBOSHREE GHOSH
Organized by: Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST) in association with
the Heinrich Boell Foundation (HBF)
New Delhi, April 9, 2013
Table of Contents
2

Status of employment with
focus on women employment

FDI and its linkages to
women employment

Some examples of sectors
with women employment

Challenges and Opportunities
Women Employment: Global Overview
3

Women constitute 40% of the global labour force, account for 58% of all unpaid work, 44%
of wage employment and 50.5% of informal employment against 48.2% for men

Women dominate the service sector (47% of all employed women against 41% of men’s
employment); are more likely than men to work in agriculture (38% of all employed women
against 33% of all employed men); and much less represented in industry (16 % against 26%
of all employed men)

In 2010 the female youth unemployment rate stood at 13.1% compared to 12.6% for males

The estimated number of workers in vulnerable employment in 2009 is 1.53 billion, and in
most regions the vulnerable employment rate among women exceeds that of men

In two-thirds of emerging and developing countries where data is available, the share of
informal employment stands at more than 40%

ILO evidence from 83 developed and developing countries shows that women earn between
10% and 30% less than men

In 2010, women accounted for just below 12% of board members in the largest publicly
listed companies in the European Union, and for just over 3% of board chairs
Source : ILO, 2012
Employment in India
4




National Sample Survey (NSS) data shows
addition of merely 2.76 million work
opportunities during the period of fastest growth
for the economy (2004-05-2009-10)
Compared to this, there was an addition of 60
million to the workforce during 1999-2000 and
2004-05
Women employment decreased considerably
from 2.8 % to 2.2 % and is currently 128 million
out of 460 million of total labour force.
It is interesting to analyse the impact of FDI on
women employment as no other empirical study
has been done in this regard. Therefore the
question arise : With FDI in the country, what is the
future of women employment in India?
 Are women better off in states with more
FDI investment?
No Official Data
80
Total employment and share
69.6 of women employment
(2009-10)- %
70
60
53.2
50
40
Total
30
21.5
20
Women
25.4
16.3
14.1
10
0
Primary
(Agriculture
and fishing)
Industry
NSSO, 2009-10
Services
5
Where women are employed ?
Agriculture
• Majority in agriculture
• Financial intermediation
and construction sector
also employ a sizable
number of women
• Lowest share in fishing,
mining and transport
• Only 3.5 % are employed
in retail and wholesale
0.5 3.8 1.8
0.4
1 1.1 1.6 0
0.8 0.4
Fishing
3.5
0.1
5.1
Electricity, gas and water
supply
Construction
Mining and quarrying
Manufacturing
Wholesale and retail trade
Hotels and restaurants
Transport
10.8
Financial intermediation
68.6
0.1
0.3
Real estate
Public administration
Education
Health and social work
Other community work
FDI
Restrictions?
Source : NSSO, 2009-2010
Activities of private
households
Extraterritorial organizations
and bodies
6
What women are employed as?
Legislators, Senior Officials
0.06
• Majority as skilled
agriculture and fishery
workers.
• Very low percentage of
service and sales workers
• Employment in
elementary occupations
such as mining,
construction and basic
manufacturing is high
2.63
2.51
3.06
1.07
3.62
Professionals
Technicians and Associate Professionals
Clerks
37.1
Service Workers and Sales Workers
40.36
Skilled Agricultural and Fishery
Workers
Craft and related Trades Workers
0.77
8.55
Machine Operators and Assemblers
Elementary Occupations
Workers not Classified
Source : NSSO, 2009-2010
Understanding the FDI dynamics
and its link to women employment
7
• SECTOR WISE FDI
• STATE WISE FDI
• LINK BETWEEN FDI AND EMPLOYMENT
Sector wise FDI in India
8
Source : DIPP, 2012
State wise distribution of FDI in India (%)
9
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
Maha, Delhi,U
TN,
Karnata
Dadra, P and
Pondich Gujarat
ka
Daman
Har
erry
2010-11
2011-12
28.5
27.2
Source : DIPP, 2012
12.5
22.7
6.2
4.4
6.3
4.0
3.4
2.9
AP
5.9
2.4
Chandi
W B,
Kerala,
UP,
garh,
MP,
Sikkim,
Laksha
Uttranc Punjab, Chattisg
Andam
dweep
hal
Haryan arh
an
a, HP
0.4
1.9
2.1
1.4
0.2
1.3
1.1
0.4
0.4
0.4
Goa
0.2
0.1
Bihar,
Rajasth
7 N.E
Orissa Jharkha
an
states
nd
0.5
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.0
0.0
Urban Women Employment(2009-10) in States with
High FDI Inflows (%)
10
45
42
40
35
35
30
25
23
27
25
21
22
20
32 32
29
25
28
22 21
14
13
21
19
19
17
15
26
14
15
17
13 13
14
17
16 17
13
9
10
5
8
6
3
0
Many other factors (culture, education, government policy,
etc.) determine women employment other than FDI
Sectors that attract women employment
Source : NSSO, 2009-2010
Direct Selling: A New Retail Format
11
Size : The size of direct selling industry in India is abour
901 USD million (2010) which is higher than countries
like Singapore and Indonesia and is ranked 11th world
wide
Women: The share of women in this sector is more than
50 % (IDSA, 2011)
Benefits:
• According to a survey by ICRIER, about 68 % women
feel it builds self esteem, 69 report financial
independence and higher earnings, flexible timings
and improved and ability to take care of families.
(ICRIER research, 2011)
Initiatives by various companies : Tupperware is
leveraging a growing female sales force of 2.6 million
women in regions like China, India, Indonesia, the CIS,
Latin America and South Africa.- 99% sales person are
women over all the world
Treated as wholesale trade for FDI inflows- No FDI restrictions
IT Services
12
• Size : The Indian IT-BPO industry has emerged as
the largest private sector employer in the country
with direct employment of about 2.23 million
professionals. The sector employ 30-35% women
(NASSCOM , 2012)
• Factors : The important factors that encourage
women workforce to participate in IT sector is
• comparatively high salary,
• easy international mobility,
• gender-neutral policy based on knowledgecentric skills possession,
• flexible work routine and physically less
demanding work process in comfortable
indoor work- environment (Kumar 2001;
Upadhya 2006; Shanker 2008).
Open to foreign investment with
limited regulations and high
incentives to FDI
• Representation : Senior management have only
5 % representation.
• Initiatives : like Shakti (a women well being
initiative) by a BPO called Ajuba, has made it more
lucrative for women to work in this sector
Opportunities and challenges
13
Why international
companies employ women?
•
•
•
Huge Untapped Women Workers : India is at
par, if opportunities availed, with her immediate
competitors for the use of women workforce as most
Asian countries, including China, Singapore,
Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan, have huge women
labour force
More Productive :Employers perceive women as
more “productive” in the types of jobs available in the
export sector
• They are obedient and
• less prone to worker unrest
• suited to tedious work
• reliability and trainability relative to men
Indian Labour Laws : In 2007, the factory act
1948 section 66 was amended, allowing women to
work between 10 pm and 6 am, is benefiting those
working in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), textiles,
garments, handicrafts, leather and IT sector.
Problems employing
women in India
•
Skills : As Indian women do complete minimum
education and even if they get educated their access to
English language remains very limited hence it MNCs
find it difficult to employ women
•
Security : The crime rate in India is high owing to
which extra money is spend on ensuring security by
providing cabs and security for women working late
at night
•
Conservative Mindset : Women in India don’t
work majorly due to this mindset of their families
•
Working Hours : Women in India are homemakers
even if they are working hence this requires them to
have flexible working hours to manage their homes
and office responsibilities
•
Labour Regulations:
variation across states
Centre
versus
states,
THANK YOU
14
FOR DETAILS CONTACT:
DR ARPITA MUKHERJEE
PROFESSOR
INDIAN COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMIC RELATIONS (ICRIER)
CORE 6A, 4TH FLOOR, INDIA HABITAT CENTRE
LODI ROAD, NEW DELHI -110 003
PHONE : 91 11 243112400 (EXTENSION: 430), 43112430
(DIRECT)
FAX : 91 11 2462 0180
ARPITA@ICRIER.RES.IN