Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

CHAPTER 7
RECKONING CAUTION: EDUCATED UNEMPLOYMENT AND GENDER UNFREEDOM
101
the State. However, while there was a decline in female
WPRs in both rural and urban areas at the all-India level
in the 1990s (Sundaram, 2001), there has been greater
stability in Kerala. (Table 7.1). Besides about one-fifth of
women in urban Kerala are employed compared to less
than 14 per cent at the all-India level.
Disaggregation by activity status added complexity
to this finding. The number of days of work for those
usually employed is much higher for women in rural
and urban India than in Kerala and it had increased
between 1993-94 and 1999-00. In Kerala, the number of
working days between 1993-94 and 1999-00 declined
in rural areas and showed no change in urban areas.
In the same period, urban Kerala also showed an
increase in the number of days women reported ‘not
seeking/not available for work’, i.e., were not in the
labour force (Table 7.2).
It is well known that women in Kerala enjoy higher wage
rates (casual) in both rural and urban areas than in other
parts of the country and hence their annual earnings
may still be higher. It is then possible that bolstered by
increasing male WPRs and higher household earnings,
women are withdrawing from paid work into full-time
domesticity for significant parts of the year. There is
a tendency for women to focus on activities in and
around the home. Data collected by the NSSO showed
that a higher proportion of housewives in Kerala, by
main occupation, were engaged in the maintenance of
kitchen garden, poultry and cattle and free tutoring of
own/other’s children than at the all-India level 2
(Appendix Table A7.1 at the end of this chapter).
Reflecting the greater commercialisation of Kerala’s
economy, there were fewer housewives taking part
in several activities of a subsistence kind, such as
husking of own paddy, free collection of firewood
or preparation of cow dung cakes. There is also a
suggestion that women’s better educational profile in
Kerala is being capitalised on in home-bound unpaid
work – 142 per 1,000 women in Kerala compared to
48 per 1,000 in India participate in free tutoring of
own/others’ children.
However, low economic status brings pressure on women
to seek work for pay as is reflected in the much higher
WPRs among the SC/ST women in Kerala as elsewhere
(Table 7.3). Male WPRs are also higher among the
SC/ST populations but not among OBCs. The rural work
participation rates were 41 per cent for ST women,
Table 7.2: Activity – Status Distribution of Person – Days per Year of Usually Employed Workers
(Principal and Subsidiary Status)
Activity Status Rural Females Urban Females
1987-88 1993-94 1999-00 1987-88 1993-94 1999-00
Kerala
Employed 193 216 211 213 248 248
Unemployed 20 16 26 31 19 14
Not in Labour Force 152 133 128 122 99 103
India
Employed 233 242 247 261 280 289
Unemployed 9 15 14 14 8 8
Not in Labour Force 123 112 104 90 77 68
Source: Estimated from data from the Three Rounds.
Table 7.3: Rural Work Participation (Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status) by Social Category
Year Scheduled Tribe Scheduled Caste OBC Others
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
1987-88 58.2 37.6 50.2 39.5 na na 50.5 26.9
1999-00 72.1 40.8 58.0 32.7 52.8 22.6 57.2 22.1
Source: Kodoth and Eapen (2005); na- not available.
2 These are accepted within the domain of extended-SNA (system of national accounts) activities, which fall outside the SNA
production boundary, but within the general production boundary, a major part of which consists of unpaid services.