This article examines why women remain outside paid employment in India using the follow-up questions in the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023–2024 that record individuals’ reported reasons for not working and for being out of the labour force. The article distinguishes between reasons for leaving work among those who have previously worked and reasons for remaining outside the labour force. The results show that women’s exit from paid work is strongly linked to unpaid care responsibilities during the reproductive and early maternal years. Men’s non-employment, on the other hand, is largely associated with health, age and retirement. Among women who were out of the labour force, domestic and care responsibilities dominate their reported reasons across locations, classes and educational groups. The findings indicate that women’s non-engagement from paid work results from a cumulative process shaped by life-course transitions, care responsibilities, health constraints and labour market conditions. The article underscores the need for care-oriented social policies to address gender inequalities in employment.
This article examines the multi-dimensional ostracism experienced by transgenders in India and its impact on their health, psychological well-being and quality of life. Using a mixed-methods approach and both secondary and primary data, this study reveals that the process of deprivation among transgender begins in their families with the recognition of their unique gender identity and prevails throughout their lives. Rejection from family and inherited property rights, lack of education and quality job opportunities and existing social stigma together compel transgender to accept either sex work or begging as their means of survival. Though it is found that the incidence of income poverty among transgender is low, they are highly vulnerable to any economic shocks (like the COVID-19 pandemic). The prevalence of chronic diseases is also severe among them. Furthermore, it is noted that due to their disrupted living patterns and experiences of sexual harassment and assault, their psychological health is alarmingly poor. Hence, it is argued that a comprehensive rights-based policy that involves affirmative action, along with the rights to education, employment, parental land and property, is necessary to improve transgenders’ quality of life.
This article provides an assessment of Indonesia’s Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM), the world’s most extensive, women-targeted, microfinance enterprise. It tracks the origins, growth, geographical reach, staffing, operational philosophy and ways in which it builds social capital in poor households all over Indonesia. The authors find that PNM, with its flagship programme Mekaar, has moved away from purely poverty alleviation, conditional cash transfers or basic-needs linked subsidies, towards adopting the latest thinking and research in poverty eradication and financial inclusion, centred on women’s empowerment. PNM’s rapid upscaling demonstrates an alternative pathway to microfinance expansion. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian government used Mekaar as a key policy instrument. Adhering to its philosophy of leaving no poor woman behind, during the pandemic years, PNM approximately doubled the number of active customers, almost tripled the amount of loans disbursed and instituted a sympathetic approach to loan recovery, while maintaining robust productivity and financial healthiness indicators. The example of PNM provides on-the-ground evidence that group-based women microfinance, combined with business and financial literacy empowerment, can produce high social and economic impacts, in addition to resilience against major shocks.
