Women an important piece to achieve 8% growth: Barclays study

Women need to account for over half the new jobs created by 2030 for India to achieve an 8% growth rate, a new Barclays study said Wednesday.

The female labour force participation would have to rise six percentage points to 43.4% from 37% in 2022-23 for growth to jump from 6-6.5%, Barclays economists stated.

“Of the roughly 108 million estimated increase in the labour force, around 55 million (~50%) would have to come from women, which implies only a partial convergence of male-to-female jobs ratio – that is, for every female worker, there would be 1.9 male workers in 2030, versus 2.2 currently,” the report stated.


The report pointed out that besides increased female labour force participation, there was also a need to shift the workers away from agriculture to non-agriculture activities.

Nearly half the workforce is still employed in agriculture, despite the sector generating just 15% of output.

“A reallocation of workers from agriculture to non-agriculture sectors (industry/services) will be sustainable only if the recipient sectors can generate enough jobs to absorb the surplus agriculture labour, more women joining the labour force, as well as new entrants to the working age as the population itself grows,” Barclays economists noted.

The study further highlighted that creating new jobs wasn’t enough, as the country needed to focus on jobs that enhance productivity.

“We find that sectors such as chemicals, transport equipment, metals, telecom, and business services, have the capacity to generate more jobs, and improve labour's share in income (owing to relatively higher skill requirements),” it said.

The researchers underlined the need for upskilling for India along with formalisation to reap the benefits of demographic dividend.

“There is still scope to increase employability, especially as India seeks to build capabilities in the manufacture of semiconductors, hydrocarbons, EV batteries, defence, and climate technology, among other industries.”

Demographic advantage

• FLFPR needs to increase to 43.4% from 37% for 8% growth
• More formalization and upskilling needed for growth
• Non-agri sectors need to absorb agri labour