Ten years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “We (Indians) have no right to call ourselves 21st century citizens as long as we have an 18th century mindset.” Calling for an end to the discrimination between sons and daughters, he launched the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme. Its aim was two-fold: to reduce female foeticide and to educate girls.India has made progress on both fronts. The sex ratio at birth improved from 919 girls per 1,000 boys (2015-16) to 929 (2019-21), writes Shamika Ravi in this piece. In other words, there are fewer sex-selective abortions and there is less neglect of girls. Data also show that girls’ gross enrollment ratio in education increased from 75.51% in 2014-15 to 78% in 2023-24.The education of girls also has “ripple effects,” as Shamika points out. As more girls are educated, they tend to marry later and have fewer children as well. This has impacted India’s total fertility rate, which has dropped to 2.0, just below replacement level. However, Shamika concedes that the overall female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) remains a challenge.In this piece, Subhanil Chowdhury and Anushree Gupta closely examine data related to FLFPR. At face value, the FLFPR appears encouraging, having climbed from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24. This means that more women are employed or are actively seeking work. We see it around us: women as teachers, entrepreneurs, factory workers, scientists, journalists, IT workers.However, women continue to face barriers — both in terms of earnings and the kinds of jobs available to them. “The rise in FLFPR is largely driven by an increase in women counted as ‘helpers in household enterprises’ and as self-employed workers. Wage employment has not expanded, and real earnings for most categories of women workers have actually fallen,” write Subhanil and Anushree.The situation seems particularly alarming in rural areas. In this piece, Shravani Prakash and Anjhana Ramesh find that in the last decade, as rural men have entered higher-paying non-farm jobs, women have filled the agricultural work space. Again, this looks like good news on the surface: women’s employment in agriculture has surged by 135%, and they now account for over 42% of the sector’s workforce.“Yet, this rise has come with diminishing returns,” Shravani and Anjhana say. “Nearly half of the women in agriculture are unpaid family workers.... In States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, more than 80% of women workers are in agriculture, and over half of them receive no wages.”This is perhaps why last week, the Prime Minister launched an employment scheme for women in Bihar, which is set to go to the polls in November, by transferring ₹10,000 each into the bank accounts of 75 lakh women. Crucially, the beneficiaries — women aged 16 to 80 — are those outside the income tax bracket.In short, more women are entering the workforce in India, but many of them are helpers in household enterprises, self-employed, or simply unpaid agricultural workers. This suggests something worrying: women seem to be entering the workforce out of necessity, not out of choice.These developments are taking place due to a combination of factors: the continuing dominance of the informal economy; the lack of safe transport, supportive work environments, skills, and opportunities in the formal labour force for women; and policy gaps, to name a few. In the case of Anshakalin Stri Parichars (part-time female attendants in primary health centres and sub-centres) in Maharashtra, whose monthly wage has stagnated at ₹3,000/month since 2016, work is framed as “opportunities for public service; yet, in practice, it is exploitation,” says this editorial.The situation is also a reflection of the 18th century mindset in some households that the Prime Minister spoke of — one that expects women to take up work to “save” their family farms or businesses, or perform unpaid labour not only within the home, but outside of it as well.ToolkitIn Kerala’s town and villages, there are several arts and sports clubs, but most of them are spaces where men alone hangout. Now, various local bodies are setting up such hangout spaces for women using their own funds. Read S.R. Praveen’s report here.WordsworthGender-neutral passports: Since 2019, Canadian citizens and residents have had the option to choose ‘X’ as their gender on passports and travel documents, apart from ‘male’ and ‘female’. On October 2, Canada issued a travel advisory warning citizens with gender-neutral ‘X’ passports that their documents may not be accepted at the U.S. border due to recent policy changes in that country. This refers to President Donald Trump’s January order that recognises only two sexes: male and female.Ouch!When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender-neutral. If women can make it, excellent; if not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.Pete Hegseth, U.S. Defence SecretaryPeople we metKavitha M | Photo Credit: Special ArrangementKavitha M., 42, teaches physics and chemistry in classes 6 to 9 in a school in Chennai. She earns ₹20,000 a month. Every morning, Kavitha wakes up, cooks for her husband and son, and leaves for school. When she comes back home, she takes math tuition for two children for an hour each and earns another ₹5,000. “Every day is a struggle,” she says. “My husband works as a painter and together we have to buy groceries, pay electricity bills, pay our son’s annual college fees of ₹70,000.” Kavitha says she would like to take more classes for children and earn more, but her husband insists that the lights go off at 8:30 p.m. “Despite being educated, I have no independence. My husband, who is a drunkard, tells me I can’t go out, I can’t take more tuitions. I can’t even buy an extra salwar for myself without his permission. Being educated is not enough; a woman should also be careful of who she marries,” she says. Why doesn’t she walk out of the marriage? “My younger sister’s marriage didn’t work out and my father often has to pay for her expenses. I cannot burden my parents,” she says.Published - October 05, 2025 08:06 am IST