Why a Jump in Women’s Employment Isn’t the Full Success Story

1. The Paradox: More Workers, But Stagnant Structural Growth

• The Feminisation of Agriculture: Usually, as economies grow, people leave farming. While rural men are doing exactly that, women are replacing them. The share of rural women in agriculture actually rose to 73.3%. Even in cities, farming became the largest single employer for urban women by 2025.
• The Salaried Job Illusion: Outside of farming, women are mostly turning to precarious self-employment (like piece-rate tailoring at home). Meanwhile, the share of women holding regular, salaried jobs has slipped from 10.5% to just 9.3%.
• The Silver Lining (Data Correction): A major reason for the sudden “surge” in numbers is simply that women’s daily, grueling work in fields and cattle sheds—which was historically ignored by policy budgets—is finally being officially counted by data collectors.

2. The Double Burden and the Widening Wage Gap

• Working Less, Earning Less: The average working hours for rural women actually dropped by six hours a week, proving these new jobs are marginal and low-intensity. Consequently, a rural woman now earns just 45% of what a rural man earns—a gap that is getting worse.
• The Invisible Second Shift: When asked why they aren’t in the labour force, 60% of women cite childcare and housework, compared to fewer than 1% of men.
• The “Double Burden”: Getting a job doesn’t relieve domestic duties. Working women still spend about 6 hours a day on unpaid care and household chores, while working men spend under three hours on both combined.