An Investigation Into The Changing Trend Of Female Workforce Participation In North Eastern States Of India : A Comparative Study

Abstract

Participation of women in the workforce is one of the crucial components of women empowerment. Compared to those who do not engage in work, economically active women can enjoy more freedom in terms of, say, decision-making in important aspects ranging from the household to society at large. Empowering women through work participation, however, calls for an enabling environment that allows women to have access to education and improved health facilities raising in turn the number of qualified women and thereby the probability of getting jobs. In this paper an attempt has been done to explore the interlinkage between education and workforce participation of women in North Eastern Region. The preliminary findings of the regression model indicate a positive relationship between education and female workforce participation. Moreover, we have studied the impact of per capita income (PCI), urbanization and sex ratio on female workforce participation in North East India. The findings of the regression imply an insignificant negative relationship between sex ratio and workforce participation in North Eastern States. In contrast to this PCI and urbanization positively affect female workforce participation in North Eastern States.