Interstate Variation in Female Labour Force Participation Rates in India - An Analysis of the 1971 Census Data

This paper makes an attempt to isolate the influence of structural differences in Female Population on the Female Labor Force Participation Rates (FPR) in different States and thereby measure the extent of actual regional variation in the Female Participation Rates in India. It also tries to examine various factors that influence the interstate variation in the adjusted FPR. The present study is based on the data available from 1971 population census and covers all the States of India as they existed at the time of 1971 census. The main findings of the study are: (1) the structural differences in female population among different regions do not contribute significantly to the observed interstate variation in FPR; (2) age-specific FPR shows much greater interstate variation in rural areas than in urban areas; (3) per capita income, average size of households and the overall literacy rate are the main factors which influence interstate variation in the basic work force tendency among females as measured by the FPR adjusted for the structural differences in female population.