New Delhi, June 22 -- The Global Gender Gap Report 2025, released by the World Economic Forum earlier this month, ranks India at 131 out of 148 countries on its Gender Gap Index. The gender differential in the labour force participation rate (LFPR), or the share of the population that is working or actively seeking work, is one of the metrics it considers for the report. For India, it shows this at 76.4% for males and 35.1% for females, or a differential of 41.3 percentage points. Over the last decade, government data shows greater participation by women in the labour force, but the quality of work-and, by extension, earnings-remains a concern.

India's female LFPR has been lower, whether compared with neighbours like Sri Lanka or with fa...