Only 3% women in formal jobs, ‘skills not translating into sustained economic participation’—NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog released a report titled "Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047," which finds that only about 3% of working women in India hold formal-sector jobs, with the large majority in informal work or outside employment, education and training (NEET) altogether.
The report states that 79.6 crore Indians — about 54.9% of the working-age population — remain entirely outside the labour force, and that of the roughly 65.4 crore people who are in the labour force, only about 7 crore have access to social security benefits.
It identifies structural barriers specific to women: rigid formats of skilling programmes, geographic and mobility constraints, safety concerns, caregiving responsibilities, high opportunity costs of training, and lack of awareness (cited by 47% of women as a barrier).
The report's central finding is that skills training alone is not converting into sustained economic participation for women, because flexible and dignified livelihood options remain scarce after training.
Recommendations include dedicated financing instruments for women's skilling, subsidised and localised training, safe transport facilities, Digital Lifelong Learning Accounts (portable "skill passports"), and community-based initiatives such as a "Back to School" model that uses existing school infrastructure as upskilling spaces for women.
Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) — measurement and trend
The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) measures the share of the working-age population that is either employed or actively seeking employment. It is estimated in India through the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). PLFS was launched in April 2017 to provide labour market estimates at more frequent intervals than the earlier quinquennial NSSO rounds.
Key Details
- PLFS gives quarterly urban estimates using the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach and annual rural-plus-urban estimates using the Usual Status approach.
- As per the PLFS Annual Report (July 2023–June 2024), female LFPR (age 15+) rose to 41.7%, up from 23.3% in 2017-18 — a rise MoSPI attributes partly to greater recognition of unpaid/subsidiary economic activity in surveys.
- Despite this rise in LFPR, most of the increase is concentrated in informal, unpaid or self-employed (including "helper in household enterprise") categories rather than formal salaried jobs — the exact gap this NITI Aayog report highlights.
The report's finding that only 3% of women are in formal jobs shows the quality gap behind the headline PLFS FLFPR rise — women are entering the labour force on paper, but overwhelmingly into informal, low-security work rather than formal employment with social security coverage.
NITI Aayog — role and mandate
NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is the Union Government's premier policy think tank, replacing the Planning Commission in January 2015. It has no statutory or constitutional basis — it was created by a Union Cabinet resolution — and functions as an advisory/knowledge body rather than a fund-allocating authority (unlike the Planning Commission, which controlled Plan allocations to states).
Key Details
- Established 1 January 2015 by Cabinet resolution (not an Act of Parliament).
- Chaired by the Prime Minister; includes a Governing Council of all state Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories, reflecting "cooperative and competitive federalism."
- Functions include policy design, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and producing sector reports (such as this skilling report) that feed into government schemes but carry no binding statutory force.
"Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047" is a NITI Aayog policy report — advisory in nature — meant to shape the design of the government's skilling ecosystem (e.g., inputs to schemes under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) rather than a binding regulatory document.
Viksit Bharat@2047 and the skilling ecosystem
"Viksit Bharat@2047" is the government's vision framework aiming for India to attain the status of a developed nation by 2047, the centenary of independence, anchored in goals for economic growth, social development, and inclusive human capital formation. Skilling is treated as a core pillar because India's working-age population (15-59 years) is projected to remain large through the 2040s — the "demographic dividend" — but only if labour force participation, especially female participation, and formal employment quality both rise.
Key Details
- The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 also emphasises vocational/skill integration in education from an early stage, aiming to have at least 50% of learners exposed to vocational education by 2025 (target under NEP 2020).
- Skill development is coordinated centrally by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE, created 2014), which runs schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
- Article 21A (inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment, 2002) guarantees free and compulsory education to children aged 6-14, forming the base of the human capital pipeline that skilling programmes build on.
The report frames women's skilling as essential to realising the Viksit Bharat@2047 goal, arguing that without addressing structural barriers to formal employment, rising skill levels among women will not translate into the labour force participation and productivity gains the 2047 vision requires.
- NITI Aayog report: "Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047."
- Only about 3% of working women are in formal-sector jobs, per the report.
- 79.6 crore Indians (54.9% of the working-age population) are outside the labour force altogether.
- Of about 65.4 crore people in the labour force, only around 7 crore have access to social security benefits.
- 47% of women cite lack of awareness of skilling programmes as a barrier to participation.
- PLFS (2023-24): female LFPR (15+) is 41.7%, up from 23.3% in 2017-18.
- NITI Aayog was constituted on 1 January 2015, replacing the Planning Commission (est. 1950).