Factors affecting economic participation of women: A comprehensive study of North-Eastern States of India

Abstract

The Himalayan states of North-Eastern India are abundant with natural resources, suitable agro climatic conditions and also favorably placed as the roadway to South-East Asia. Yet, after 73 years of independence of India, the regions finds itself hanging around the tail of most of the important economic indicators. While the North-eastern states together constitutes roughly 7.9% of the total geographical territory of India, it hardly contributes 3% of total GDP of the nation. While investigating about the probable reasons, apart from the hilly and difficult terrain of the land and its distance from mainland India, one prominent factor that seems to be responsible is the low level of female participation in the labour force relative to male. In this respect, the paper tries to find the trend of Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) in the North-eastern region over the years. Also, it tries to find out the possible factors that are affecting the job market participation of women in the region. Further, the paper also tries to make a comparable study between the FLFPR of North-East and the national average.