Women's Labour Force Participation Rate Rises to 40 Per Cent

A backgrounder released by the Press Information Bureau on 15 October 2026 gathers the figures on women's work in India and argues that the story has moved from merely taking part in the labour market to the quality of the work on offer. The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is its base.

How participation has grown

For women aged 15 years and above, the Labour Force Participation Rate climbed from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 40 per cent in 2025. The Worker Population Ratio over the same stretch rose from 22 per cent to 38.8 per cent. In plain numbers, about 20 crore women of that age were at work during 2025. The first of these measures counts those working or looking for work; the second counts only those actually employed.

Women in enterprise

As of October 2026 roughly 3.69 crore registered MSMEs were owned by women, which is about 38 per cent of all registrations. By March 2026 more than 1.07 lakh recognised startups had at least one woman as director or partner, close to 48 per cent of all recognised startups.

Where women work

The share in STEM research was 13 per cent in 2000-01 and 18.6 per cent in 2020-21 before reaching the present level.

Credit and markets

Under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, begun in 2015, collateral-free credit of up to 20 lakh rupees is available to micro and small units; more than 57.79 crore loans had been sanctioned by April 2026 and women accounted for two-thirds of them. Women-led small enterprises get guarantee cover of 90 per cent and a 10 per cent concession on the guarantee fee, and about 30.75 lakh guarantees worth some 2.07 lakh crore rupees had been approved for them by February 2026. On the Government e-Marketplace the Womaniya initiative had 2.17 lakh women-owned small enterprises registered by July 2026, and contracts to women-owned units crossed 28,000 crore rupees in 2025-26, a growth of 27.6 per cent.

Skilling and labour law

The NAVYA scheme of 2025 aims to skill 3,850 adolescent girls in non-traditional roles, and 1,105 had been trained by 31 August 2026. The AI Careers for Women programme is setting up 30 centres of excellence in women's colleges with 150 spoke centres, to train 20,000 learners. In November 2025 the government folded 29 labour laws into four Labour Codes, which give eligible women up to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, 3,500 rupees as medical bonus where free prenatal and postnatal care is absent, creches in establishments with at least 50 workers, and one-third of the seats on Central and State Advisory Boards.