Despite decades of rapid economic growth, rising education, and declining fertility, women in South Asia continue to face disadvantages in accessing economic opportunities. Female labour force participation (FLFP) rate in South Asia is well below all other world regions, apart from West Asia and North Africa. Education, a key determinant of FLFP, also does not explain the low participation as women’s gross enrolment rate in secondary schools has consistently gone up in South Asia. The total fertility rate has also declined in most South Asian countries but it did not lead to a rise in FLFP. Thus, a World Bank paper concludes that social norms and attitude towards gender in South Asia are strongly connected to women’s poor participation in economic activities
Lagging behind
The chart shows the female labour force participation (FLFP) rate across world regions. South Asia lags behind all other world regions except the Middle East and North Africa. In 2019, only 23.6% of women in South Asia were in the labour force, compared with around 50-60% in other regions
