When Indian men stay out of the workforce, it is often because they are preparing for their future.
Conversely, when Indian women stay out of the workforce, it is because they are looking after everyone else.
New data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) highlights a stark gender divide in the reasons why people remain outside the labour force.
Among men, 53.5% said they were not working because they wanted to continue their studies, while 68.7% of women cited childcare and household responsibilities as the primary reason for staying out of the workforce.
These numbers, released by NSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for 46-million-plus cities (cities with a million-plus population as per Census 2011), are based on the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2025 and the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises 2025.
