Work Participation Rate Research Articles

Sexual Harassment Prevalent in the Hotel Industry in Chennai

The women status in India has been subjected to many great changes over the past millennia. They constitute an integral part of total workforce. In 1981, work participation rate was only 19.67 %, 1991 it was 22.73% and 26.68 per cent in 2001. One of the major limitations for Women at workplace is sexual violation. It is a commonly understood that sexual harassment was in the eye of the beholder. Only blatant and aggressive actions or comments like a direct threat to dismiss someone if she or he refused a sexual request were acknowledged by all as sexual harassment. This paper focuses on analysing the general awareness (sources and forms) among women workforce regarding this consequential area and also its prevalence in a well established 4 star hotel industry in Chennai on sexual harassment and the prevailing status in the organization. Since this issue is sensitive purposive and snowball sampling is adopted. The respondents include only women employees who were willing to share their experiences. From the below research it is understood that all the 60 women respondents has underwent at least one form of Sexual Harassment. The study revealed that all the respondents accepted that the sexual harassment is vivid in their organization and the major source of sexual violation is the managers. The major limitation in conducting the this original research work is getting a formal authorization from the concerned hotel revealing that this workplace issue is still considered to be trivial and a part of women employed in the hotel industry leading to high attrition in this industry.

Poverty Eradication through Inclusive Growth: A Case of Punjab

The presence of hunger and poverty in India and other parts of the world is in large measure to the subjugation, marginalization and disempowerment of women. Women suffer from hunger and poverty in greater numbers and to a great degree than men. Women work participation in the country as whole has been significantly lower than that of men. Women work participation rate has shown increasing trend from 1981 onwards. It was 36.7 percent in 1981, improved to 37.7 percent in 1991 and further improved to 39.2 percent in 2001 and 39.8 in 2011. Increase in work participation rate is more percentiles in rural areas than urban. There has been a decline in percentage of workers engaged in agricultural sector from 38.9% in 2001 to 35.5% in 2011. Amongst the total workers in Punjab, the largest proportion of workers is engaged in ‘Other’ work i.e. 60.5%. This percentage is the second highest among major states in the country, next only to Kerala, i.e. 80.5%.

Female Portrayals in Advertising and Its Impact on Marketing Communication—Pieces of Evidence from India

Researchers in different parts of the world have shown great concern on gender stereotyping in advertising. However, very few studies have analyzed the effect of such a message strategy on consumers, more so in the case of India. As per the census data, there is an increase in the literacy rate, education status and work participation rate of women in India. Therefore, it is imperative to assess the consumer responses towards the appropriateness of such a message strategy. A structured questionnaire was administered to 450 respondents comprising males and females in the age group of 20–50 years in the Delhi region. Consumer responses were evaluated to understand the effect of female portrayals in advertising on the dimensions of the following: preference for advertisement, attitude towards the advertisement (with respect to ad liking and believability of the ad), towards the brand (with respect to brand liking, brand recall, brand recognition and brand image) and intention to buy. Demographic factors were also evaluated to assess the impact of female portrayals on consumer evaluations. Several hypotheses were developed and tested in this study. Analysis of variance, T-test, correlation and regression were employed to test the hypotheses. Findings of the study indicate that the portrayal of females in advertisements is associated with ad liking, believability of ad, brand liking, brand recognition, brand recall and brand image, and has a lesser impact on intention to buy. The study also reports new findings on female portrayal and communication impact. Implications for marketing practitioners have also been discussed in the article.

Rural Non Farm Employment in Assam: Trends and Issues

This study explores the rural labour market in Assam. The Work Participation Rates (WPR) for males has increased during the period 1993-94 to 2009-10, whereas the same for females has been fluctuating around a lower level of 15 to 20 per cent. Thus, unemployment rates for females have been higher than males. A sector-wise distribution of workers shows that the proportion of males employed in the farm sector has been declining in favour of the Non-Farm Sector (NFS), while the females are more concentrated in the farm sector. Thus, females stand in a more disadvantageous situation in the rural labour market as indicated by their low WPR, higher unemployment rates and low level of diversification into NFS. However, gender equality is necessary for growth. This is more so with regard to education and employment. India has introduced the concept of inclusive growth in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. Inclusive growth ensures opportunities for all sections of the population, with a special emphasis on the poor, particularly women and young people, who are most likely to be marginalised. A rapidly growing population in India has not only increased the size of the rural labour force but has also led to fragmentation of land holdings. Thus, this sector alone cannot create additional employment opportunities, even in high growth agriculture states of India. This has led to the growth of a vibrant non-farm sector. The study comes up with the suggestion that the NFS, with its greater potential of employment generation, can not only solve the unemployment problem, but can also lead to the increased access of women to resources and employment opportunities.

Assessing the IQ-earnings link in environmental lead impacts on children: Have hazard effects been overstated?

Studies in the 1990s by Schwartz and by Salkever provided the bases for measuring the earnings impacts of IQ decrements due to lead exposure for children, and many subsequent regulatory, policy guidance, and academic analyses adopted the estimates from these studies. Results by Salkever implied somewhat greater impacts of IQ decrements, but have been contested, in a series of more recent critical review articles, as overestimates of the negative impacts on children׳s future earnings caused by IQ decrements due to lead exposure. This paper examines the contentions of proponents of this overstatement hypothesis, the applicability of the evidence they offer, and the results from an additional important study from 1998 heretofore overlooked in the literature. Results of this examination indicate that the evidence for the overstatement hypothesis is seriously flawed. Studies cited to support this hypothesis (1) often report only evidence on wage impacts and thus ignore IQ impacts on hours of work and work participation rates, (2) give lesser weight to or completely exclude population groups that show relatively higher IQ impacts (e.g., women), and (3) give substantial weight to pre-1980 wage and earning data, thereby omitting the influence of recent upward trends in skill differentials in earnings and increasing returns to education. Because of these and other deficiencies, available evidence does not substantiate the overstatement hypothesis. In contrast, recent evidence overlooked by the proponents of this hypothesis suggests that the results reported by Salkever understate the actual strength of the negative IQ impacts from lead exposure.

Gender Differentials in Sex ratio, Literacy rate and Work Participation rate: Trends, Issues and Concerns

Gender equality and women's empowerment are human rights that lie at the heart of development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In most societies, however, distinct gender roles and responsibilities restrict the opportunities and resources available to women and men frequently in ways that contradict women's basic human rights and threaten overall human development” (ibid. p. 57). This article is an attempt to give rejuvenating emphasis to the relevance and importance of gender equality, which ensures women and men equal opportunities to realise their individual potential, contribute to their country's economic and social development and benefit from their participation in society” (UNDP 2007, Measuring Human Development: A Primer, p 57). Status of women in Anand district has been discussed with respect to its sex ratio, gender gaps in literacy rate and work participation rate. The elucidations on sex ratio including juvenile sex ratio, literacy rate and work participation rate across various blocks of Anand district as well as state and national averages provide a deliberated perspective for all concerned.

Analysis of Women Participation in Indian Agriculture

Agriculture sector as a whole has developed and emerged immensely with the infusion of science and technology. But this latest emergence is not capable of plummeting the ignorance of women labour as an integral part of this industry. In developing countries like India, agriculture continues to absorb and employ female work force but fails to give them recognition of employed/hired labour. Women constituted 38% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. It is also estimated that 45.3% of the agricultural labour force consists of women. But a large number of women have remained as invisible workers”. Since there has been concern expressed regarding the gap between women’s actual economic participation and public perception of it several researchers have attempted to overcome this invisibility through gendered empirical research studies for using on gender analysis and gender roles. This piece of research is highlighting the trend of female participation in agriculture across various Indian states. The secondary data collated for the research is used to study the growth trend of the agricultural worker from 1961-2001. Analysis is done to categorize the states on their identical behaviour of participation in agriculture by hierarchical clustering of economically active female in agriculture based on measurements like coefficient of variation, compound growth rate and work participation rate.

The Livelihood Effects of Industrialization on Displaced Households: Evidence from Falta Special Economic Zone, West Bengal

Much of the debate on industrialization and displacement has, so far, focused on the optimum compensation for affected households. Our recently concluded study, comprising of a sample of 1017 households including 630 affected (displaced and land acquired) and 387 unaffected households, looks at the long-term livelihood effects of the Falta Special Economic Zone in West Bengal, India. The main findings indicate a lower labour market participation rate among affected household members. However, members of displaced households show the highest work participation rate in the industrial zone but with a lower return to education than others. Women earn about 17 percentage points less compared to men after controlling for education and experience and this gap is 5 to 10 percentage points higher for FSEZ employees; but this gap is narrowing over time likewise the gender education gap.

Education, Fertility and Earning of Women in North-East India

This paper attempts to shed light on the bearing of education and fertility on income of women in northeast India. Econometric analysis indicates that high literacy rate is giving dividend in terms of higher work participation rate and higher income with greater educational attainment compared with women with low educational attainment. The study finds a threshold limit of two children for the optimum income of women as annual income tends to decline for women with three or more children. This result though applicable to states in NE India, there exist inter-state variation in women's income.

FRI0547 Improved work participation in early rheumatoid arthritis in the netherlands 1995-2011

BackgroundDuring the past decades, major steps were made towards earlier diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and development of better therapies, leading to an improved prognosis of patients with early RA....

Enabling Subjectivities: Economic and Cultural Negotiations—A Gendered Reading of the Handloom Sector and the Special Economic Zone of Kerala

The process of globalisation has unleashed substantial changes in the employment sector. One of the common features of this process has been discussed through the concept of the ‘feminisation of labour’. In India, most scholars have questioned this thesis given the ongoing low work participation rates among women. In this article two sites of labour—one in the traditional sector and the other in the emerging new labour context—are compared to explain the gendered structures of the new labour paradigm. In the handloom sector, male workers are leaving while women continue to work, whereas the special economic zone emerges with young women-centred jobs. The article argues that at the micro level, especially in the context of Kerala’s male labour history, a variation on the feminisation thesis is relevant. The micro spaces of these women workers must be explored in order to understand labour and its nuances in contemporary Kerala, with possible lessons for other spaces as well.

Rural Labour Market in Assam: Trends and Status of Employment

Based on National Sample Survey data for 1993-94,1999-00,2004-05 and 2009-10, this paper explores the situation of the rural labour market in Assam. While the Work Participation Rates (WPR) for males Increased during the reference period, the same for females had been fluctuating around a lower level of 15 to 20 percent. Consequently, unemployment rates for females had been higher than males. A sector wise distribution of workers shows that the proportion of males employed in the farm sector had been declining in favour of the Non-Farm Sector (NFS), while the females were heavily tagged with the farm sector, leading to a lower degree of diversification into NFS. The employment growth rates for females suffered a serious setback during the period. The problem of casualisation is more acute for rural females than their male counterparts. Females stand in the most disadvantageous situation in the rural labour market as indicated by their low WPR, higher unemployment rates, lower employment growth, low level of diversification into NFS and higher casualisation Index.

Educational Attainment and Income Inequality: Evidence from Household Data of Odisha

This paper examines the impact of education on income inequality by gender, caste, region and occupation using primary data collected from sample households form two selected districts of Odisha by using the earnings function of Mincerian type (1962). The findings clearly show that there are income differences by gender, caste, occupation and region. Women, self employees, SC/STs and people in rural area earn less than their counterparts male, wage employees, upper caste people and people in urban area respectively. The return to education is higher for women, wage employees, SC/STs and people in rural area. The differences in return to education between gender, across caste and across region decline at higher levels of education in both the occupations. The differences in return to education across gender and region are very less for wage employees than in case of self employees. The paper concludes that education is one of the strong instruments for reducing the inequality in income in Odisha. In this backdrop our findings suggest that more educational opportunities to be provided in rural areas, special efforts to be taken to increase level of education of women and lower caste people. Further, Government should provide employment opportunities in rural areas to enhance work participation rate.

For Bed and Board Only: Women and Girl Children Domestic Workers in Post-Partition Calcutta (1951–1981)

AbstractThis paper attempts to see how a particular labour market (domestic service), a traditionally male domain, became segregated both by gender and age in the post-partition Indian state of West Bengal, and mainly in its capital city Calcutta. It argues that the downward trend in industrial job opportunities in post independent West Bengal, accompanied by the large scale immigration of men, women and children from bordering East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), led to a general decline in wage rate for those in domestic service. Poor refugee women, in their frantic search for a means of survival, gradually drove out the males of the host population who were engaged in domestic service in urban West Bengal by offering to work for a very low wage and often for no wage at all. As poor males from the neighbouring states of Bihar, Orissa and the United Provinces constituted historically a substantial section of Calcutta domestic workers, it was mainly this group who were replaced by refugee women. The second stage in the changing profile of domestic service since the 1970s in urban West Bengal was arguably set by migrating girl children from different parts of the state to Calcutta city in search of employment. This is probably why West Bengal had the highest girl children's work-participation rate in urban India in 2001.

Unemployment among Women in Meghalaya

Unemployment is widely regarded as a major social and economic global problem since it is directly connected with earning abilities and therefore welfare of the person and her/his family. Unemployment is an enormous issue and is important indicator of lack of human welfare in developing countries like India. The study intends to investigate the ground realities of the problems associated with unemployment of women in Meghalaya and issues connected with possible gender biases, education related as well as behavior of the labour market for women workers. Thus with the help of a selected number of indicators of unemployment, the main objectives of the study are:(a) To identify the causes of unemployment among women in Meghalaya;(b) to analyze the relationship of unemployment with education and gender. From the study it was found that the work participation rate of females in Meghalaya is much higher than the all India level. The prevailing employment market scenario and the relative status of various occupations in the society, greatly influence the job aspirations of the persons entering the active working life. Keywords - Meghalaya, unemployment, employment, education, gender-bias, work-participation.

Education and women’s participation in Indian economy: A regional analysis

The paper examines the work participation rate (WPR) of women in Indian states based on the census conducted in 2001. As per 2001 census, the WPR of women was 25.6% in India though they constituted 48.27% of the total population. It was well documented that the educational condition of women has improved in the past few decades but their WPR is still low. Here, the paper tried to see reasons behind this anomaly. There are many determinants of WPR but the author limit this paper to education. The paper is based on the hypothesis of increasing women WPR with educational development. The correlation matrix between occupational composition and educational development shows significant relation. This implies that education is one of the reasons for increasing WPR. In addition, it was found that women with primary education are actively engaged in agricultural sector. Finally, the paper concludes with some general observations and suggestions. Key words: Gender inequality, economic participation, education, workers, regional analysis.

Muslim Female Work Participation in West Bengal, India

Occupational structure of people is one of the significant determinants of human group disparities in socio-economic development. Various development indicators substantiate that women lag behind men in most of yardsticks that measure gender justice and human development, occupation is one of them. A country or society can’t realize its dream of becoming super power by ignoring the better half of the humanity. This study aims to investigate Muslim women work participation in West Bengal based on population census in 2001, as the results have indicated that Muslims constitute 13.4 per cent of the country and 25.25 per cent of West Bengal’s population. Indeed, it is the second largest religious minority community in the country. Sex ratio among Muslim population is 933 in West Bengal, which is higher than the national level. Illiteracy rate of Muslim women is higher and they have not been able to take full advantage in society. There also exists a wide gap between males and females work participation rate. Besides, a significant proportion of Muslim women are recorded as unskilled in the state. Keeping these points in view the present study analyses Muslim women work participation in West Bengal in general and by occupational groups in particular.

Welfare Reform in the U.S.: A Policy Overview Analysis

AbstractSeveral previous papers have marked the United States as an outlier: high poverty rates, low public social spending but high private social expenditures; a rather strong belief that people are poor because of laziness or lack of will; and remarkable differences across the States due to state discretion. With that established context in mind, this paper analyzes U.S. welfare in more detail, focusing on the impact of TANF—part of the major welfare reform that took place in the United States in 1996. U.S. welfare reform emphasized an American preference for work, and it was a move further away from the strategies other “wealthy” nations use to address poverty. Initially U.S. welfare reform did serve to increase work participation rates, although the earnings of most individuals who left welfare were still below the poverty line, even many years after their exit. We found huge variation of welfare eligibility rights across states, depending on the state's ability to pay and preferences to meet a certain level of social standard or other (social) objectives such as child care, work support and employment programs.

Employment situation of women in Pakistan

PurposeThis paper is an attempt to analyze the study of low female work participation rate in Pakistan due to the religious, traditional, cultural values, the colonial ideology and the evolution of social institution that restrain women entry into the labour market.Design/methodology/approachIn order to explore the objectives, the paper develops the classification of male and female age groups into three main categories, and analyze with the help of descriptive and mean methodology.FindingsThe findings of this paper show that the women are suffering from market discrimination and hence are pushed to separate low‐paid and low‐status jobs. Majority of women are employed in the unorganized sectors. Mostly, women are concentrated in sector known for low level of productivity, less income stability and low security of employment due to their dual role at home and workplace. Organized services sector is mostly government services, and provides employment to a small proportion of women. The rate of unemployment among women is consistently higher than that of men, both in rural and urban areas.Research limitations/implicationsThe statistics are reflective of two hard‐core realities. The first factor is that women with no education or with some basic education are allowed to work due to intensive poverty and high rate of inflation; and the second factor is that the existing socio‐cultural norms continues to strengthen gender discrimination and are a source of a massive wastage of the human capital available in the country.Practical implicationsAn analysis of structure of women employment reveals some qualitative improvement in the employment, due to high literacy rate and educational levels.Social implicationsIncreasing levels of female labour force participation rate is a poverty‐induced phenomenon; a larger part is to be traced by improvement in literacy and education levels of women. There is some qualitative improvement in the employment, as women's share in secure and better paid jobs in the organized sector appears to be higher. With the increase in educational levels of women, faster growth of women's employment is observed in modern sectors and white‐collar jobs. Government machinery, non‐governmental organizations and progressive political parties should focus on the education of women if they want to enhance the status of women in Pakistan by implementing special schemes and programmes for absorbing them into different occupations, particularly in organized sector so as to improve their structures of employment as well as status of jobs.Originality/valueClassification of male and female age groups is done into three main categories, i.e. age ten to 14, 25‐29 and 55‐59 for young, adult and old groups, respectively. This paper provides the clear picture of women problems and causes.

Mental Disorders and Service Use Among Welfare and Disability Program Participants in Fee-for-Service Medicaid

Mental Disorders and Service Use Among Welfare and Disability Program Participants in Fee-for-Service Medicaid