背景介绍：
印度女性就业问题长期备受关注，2018年印度政府首次发布的“定期劳动力调查”揭示了女性就业比例远低于全球平均水平的严峻现实。近年来，尽管女性就业比例有所上升，但背后的原因复杂多样，既有经济困境的推动，也有社会规范的影响。本文旨在深入探讨印度女性就业比例上升的现象及其背后的多重因素。
The mystery of
India’s female labour-force participation rate
印度女性劳动力参与率之谜
A good news
story? Maybe
算是好消息吗？或许吧
In 2018 the statistics office of the
government of India released the first “
periodic
labour force survey”, designed
to provide quarterly and annual snapshots of employment in the country.
2018年，印度政府统计局发布了首份“周期性劳动力调查”，旨在按季度和年度反映印度的就业状况。
That year the proportion of women aged 15 and above who were in work was a miserable 23.3%, far below the global average of 53%. By contrast, the labour-force participation rate (LFPR) among Indian men was 75.8%.
那一年，印度15岁及以上女性的就业比例仅为23.3%，远低于全球平均水平的53%。相比之下，印度男性的劳动力参与率（LFPR）高达75.8%。
But the rate has picked up healthily every
year since, rising to 41.7% in the latest survey released in September. For a
country marked by deep gender inequality, a change this rapid and in the
correct direction seems like
unalloyed
good news. Is it?
但此后，这一比例呈现出逐年健康上升的趋势，在9月份发布的最新调查中，女性就业比例已上升至41.7%。对于一个长期存在严重的性别不平等问题的国家而言，如此迅速且方向正确的变化看似是纯粹的好消息。然而，事实果真如此吗？
Not everyone is convinced. One explanation
offered by sceptics is that the rise is the result of changes in the way the
government measures the rate. The International Labour Organisation (ILO),
which does not include unpaid workers (such as those who help out on the family
farm), pegs female LFPR lower, at 33% last year against the official 37%.
并非所有人都对此持乐观态度。怀疑论者提出了一种解释：这一上升主要是政府衡量比例方式变化的结果。国际劳工组织（ILO）的计算方式（不计入无薪工人，如那些在家庭农场无偿劳动的人）显示，女性 LFPR 较低，去年为33%，而官方数据则为37%。
Yet there is no disputing the trend. The ILO, like the government, shows the rate rising sharply in recent years, especially since the pandemic (see chart). Moreover, measurement changes may have had a one-time effect, says Amit Basole of the Azim Premji University in Bangalore, author of the “State of Working India” report. But it would not explain consistent rises.
然而，这一上升趋势本身是无可争议的。国际劳工组织与政府数据均显示，近年来女性 LFPR 急剧上升，尤其是自疫情爆发以来。此外，《印度工作状况》报告的作者、班加罗尔阿齐姆-普雷姆吉大学的阿米特·巴索尔指出，测量方式的变化可能只产生了一次性影响，但这并不能合理解释持续的上升趋势。
Another cause for caution is that the rise
does not appear to be driven by shifts in social norms. In many families it is
considered a matter of some shame for the women of the house to work, carrying
the implication that the men cannot provide.
另一个值得警惕的原因是，这种上升似乎并非由社会规范的转变所推动。在许多家庭中，女性外出工作仍被视为一件不光彩的事情，这往往意味着男性没有能力养家糊口。
In rural areas, where much of the rise has occurred, the likelihood that a woman is in work declines with every extra thousand rupees her husband earns. There is no evidence that these long-established norms have shifted in recent years.
特别是在增长率主要发生的农村地区，丈夫的收入每增加一千卢比，女性外出工作的可能性就会相应下降。没有确凿证据表明这些长期存在的社会规范近年来已发生根本性变化。
For clues about what is driving the rise,
economists look at what work women are doing. “A lot of it is an increase in
self-employment,” points out Ashwini Deshpande of the Centre for Economic Data
and Analysis at Ashoka University near Delhi. This includes working on the
family farm or running a small shop out of the home, but also things like
rolling bidis, a type of cigarette, or making poppadums.
为了深入了解推动女性就业比例上升的原因，经济学家们对女性所从事的工作类型进行了深入研究。德里附近阿育王大学经济数据与分析中心的阿什维尼·德什潘德指出：“很大程度上是自营职业的增加。”这包括在家庭农场工作、在家中经营小商店，以及从事卷烟制作、薄脆饼烹制等工作。
Mr Basole is of the view that the entry of
large numbers of women into self-employment is the result of economic distress
in rural areas. Rates of female participation in casual labour or fixed
employment have declined in recent years even as more rural women work on
family farms or on their own account, which “points to people trying to
generate some sort of an income in the absence of opportunities,” he says. If
economic distress is the cause, women’s LFPR could fall again as their
families’ prospects improve.
巴索尔认为，大量女性投身自营职业是农村地区经济困境的直接结果。近年来，尽管越来越多的农村女性选择在家庭农场或从事自营职业，但女性参与临时工或固定就业的比例却有所下降。他表示，这“表明人们在缺乏其他就业机会的情况下，正试图创造某种形式的收入”。如果经济困境确实是导致女性LFPR上升的原因，那么随着家庭经济状况的改善，女性的 LFPR 可能会再次下降。
The other, more optimistic, explanation is
that women are taking advantage of new opportunities. The government is serious
about getting more women into the workforce, says Ms Deshpande, and has been
pushing schemes to promote self-employment.
另一个更为乐观的解释是，女性正在积极利用新的就业机会。德什潘德表示，政府正认真考虑让更多女性进入劳动力市场，并一直在积极推动促进自营职业的计划。
Women have received more than two-thirds of loans under a government microfinance scheme aimed at encouraging non-farm businesses in rural areas. “This initiative likely encouraged more women to take up entrepreneurship, reflected in the growing number of self-employed female workers,” reckon analysts at Goldman Sachs, a bank.
根据旨在鼓励农村地区非农企业发展的政府小额信贷计划，女性获得了三分之二以上的贷款。高盛银行的分析师指出：“这项举措可能会鼓励更多女性创业，这从自营职业女性工人数量的不断增加中得到了反映。”
Yet average earnings from self-employment for women in rural areas remain
stagnant
. Ms Deshpande counsels patience: “We should give it time.” More women in the workforce is good news for India, and for its women. But it is only when they earn more, too, that it will be time to celebrate.
然而，值得注意的是，农村地区女性自营职业的平均收入仍然停滞不前。对此，德什潘德建议保持耐心：“我们应该给予它一些时间。”劳动力中女性比例的增加对印度及其女性群体而言无疑是个好消息。但只有当她们有能力赚得更多时，才是真正值得庆祝的时刻。
