Opt-Out Revolution - Educated Females’ Labour Supply Decision in India

Mehr Nayak, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
Suddhasil Siddhanta, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics
Purbash Nayak, not yet employed

Using various rounds of Employment and Unemployment Survey (NSS) we study the low and declining participation rates of educated married females in urban India and demonstrate that the prime reason is falling selectivity and is associated with marriage market dynamics. We construct a framework to incorporate the role of marriage, household, and relations in explaining the opting-out of higher educated urban married females of Indian society. This paper further contributes by quantifying the family’s/household’s attachment towards its married female members and further examine the effects of structural development via technical education, local labour market structure of demand, attachment to their role as married females – selection bias and various other controls. We find that technical education not only induces substitution via premium on wages, but being technically educated also expands her set of opportunities as it induces labour market attachments.

Keywords: Families, Unions and Households, Structural equation modelling , Human Capital, Education, and Work, Gender Dynamics

See paper.