Gender Disparity in Informalisation of Formal Sector : a Comparison between Pre and Post Pandemic Indian Labor Market

Aratrika Saha, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Female labor force participation in India has remained persistently low, despite improvements in education, fertility, and economic growth in both formal and informal sectors. The gender disparity in employment further accentuates when the quality of job is considered, measured in terms of different job security benefits. In addition, recent trends have highlighted the informalization of formal sector jobs, where regular enterprises are opting to hire casual and self-employed labors leaving them outside the scope of labor laws and thus making them vulnerable to workplace exploitations especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. By analysing Periodic Labor Force Survey data of round 2019-20 and 2022-23, this study has found rapid increase in the share of female workers in formal sector working under informal employment conditions compared to their male counterparts in post pandemic era. Wealth, education, and marital status play a significant role in influencing informal female employment, with education emerging as a key factor in explaining the gender gap .While the absolute number of informal workers in formal sector is still low, the percentage has drastically increased from 2019-20 to 2022-23. This underscores the urgent need for detailed, gender-neutral policies that robustly ensure the security and protection of workers across all sectors.

Keywords: Gender Dynamics, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Decomposition analysis, Data and Methods

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