Over 3 times more women in part-time jobs than men: National Statistical Office

“There has been rapid growth in part-time work in the past few decades in developed economies. This trend is related to the increase in female labour force participation, but also results from policies attempting to raise labour market flexibility in reaction to changing work organisation within industries and to the growth of the services sector. Of concern to policymakers in the apparent move towards more flexible working arrangements is the risk that such working arrangements may be less economically secure and less stable than full-time employment,” it said.

Rural females working part-time in the working age population (15+ years) at all India falls between 23-24 per cent as compared to 7-8 per cent for rural males during 2017-18 to 2019-20. For urban females working part-time in the same age group at all-India level, it falls between 15-16 per cent as compared to 3-4 per cent for urban male during the same period.

In both rural and urban areas, part timers as a proportion of total employed are more in the 60+ age-group among males and urban females, the report said.

It said that in developed countries, policymakers have promoted part-time work in an attempt to redistribute working time in countries of high unemployment, thus lowering politically sensitive unemployment rates without requiring an increase in the total number of hours worked.

The employment rate of workers living in a household with no child under age three years rose to 61.2 per cent in 2019-20 from 58.37 per cent in 2017-18 in the 26-49 years age group and 59.6 per cent in 2018-19.

The proportion of employed persons who are employers in the 15+ age group stood at 2.02 per cent in 2019-20, down from 2.17 per cent in 2018-19 but up from 1.91 per cent in 2017-18.