ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the trends and patterns of labour-force participation by education, age, gender, caste, and religion groups in India for the period 1983–2018. It also finds the factors determining the labour-force participation decision of males and females and outlines the process of recent growth of unemployment and the disheartened labour force. Drawing data from NSS and PLFS surveys, the chapter discusses the contours of a continuous decline in the labour-force participation rate in India and argues that a stronger negative income effect of the improved standard of living at the household level and increasing participation in education are the major determining factors behind the falling LFPR.
