India Targets 55% Female Labour Force Participation by 2030

By: WE staff | Friday, 7 November 2025

• India are looking to increase female labour participation from 41.7% in FY24 to 55% by FY30
• In this regards, the Ministry of Labour and Employment wanted to increase the participation of women in the workforce

India is looking to increase the share of women in the workforce from 41.7 percent in FY24 to, 55 percent by 2030, through various polices aimed at opening up better job opportunities for women with safer working conditions.

The ministry developing the policies, the Labour and Employment Ministry, and its upper level government official that spoke, said they are focused on developing policies around: flex-work arrangements, equal pay for equal work, workplace safety, and affordable childcare to increase female participation in the workforce. The Ministry wants more women of working age, who want a job, to "enter the workforce and stay."

The FLFPR denotes the percent of females aged 15 and above in the labour force-both employed and unemployed.

Generally, a higher rate is interpreted as meaning better gender equality and a more active labour market. In the current weekly status, the FLFPR stood at 34.1 percent as of September 2025, against 33.4 percent in the April-June quarter.

The ministry has set a target to raise women's workforce participation by at least a third by 2030, in line with the broader effort to advance gender justice and equality.

Besides, inter-ministerial discussions are going on to formalize India's care economy that is expected to create millions of jobs, especially for women.

ILO estimates that an investment of 2 percent in the care sector of India’s GDP could generate around 11 million jobs, of which 70 percent would be for women.

The ILO also values unpaid care and domestic work in India at 10–39 percent of the GDP. Additionally, if unpaid care work were valued against minimum wage rates, it would represent 9 percent of global GDP, or approximately $11 trillion.

Because labour falls within the purview of the concurrent list, the central government intends to bring about a model policy to promote women's participation in the workforce and is persuading state governments and private organisations for the same.

In its draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025, the labour ministry highlighted that expanding and equalizing access to decent employment for women is key to unlocking India's demographic potential and supporting inclusive economic growth.