EPFO records just 0.46% CAGR in new female subscribers; gender gap narrows in 5 years

More than 6.43 crore new members joined the EPF scheme during the period from September 2017 to March 2023, according to EPFO data.

The number of new female Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers during the last five years has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just 0.46 percent, leading to absolute numbers being nearly the same as in 2018, according to a Moneycontrol analysis of Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) data.

There were over 29.23 lakh female subscribers in FY19, which dropped to 25.20 lakh in FY20. In what can be seen as the impact of Covid-19, the steepest decline was recorded during FY21, when only 19.45 lakh members enrolled, in a reduction of over 5.75 lakh from the previous year.

Despite the narrative around increasing diversity and fostering inclusion in the workplace, industry and staffing experts say the drop in numbers is due to various challenges women employees have to face, including work continuation after marriage and childbirth.

“Normally, in India, when the market and economy is very good, the labour participation of women sees a decline as they get more involved on the home front, while the male counterpart is on the work front. The economy has now stabilised (after the Covid pandemic), and the earnings of male employees have increased, leading to lower participation by females in the employed sector,” said RP Yadav, CMD of Genius Consultants, an HR consultancy firm.

ALSO READ | Maharashtra government issues notice to TCS over onboarding delay

Managed by the EPFO, the employees’ provident fund is a mandatory savings scheme and covers every establishment that employs 20 or more persons. The number of members subscribing to the scheme is an indication of the level of employment in the formal sector.

The government has clarified that the number of subscribers was from various sources and there were overlaps. “The present report gives different perspectives on the levels of employment in the formal sector and does not measure employment at a holistic level,” the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation National Statistical Office said.

Though there has been near zero growth in the number of female subscribers, the gender gap has reduced by a CAGR of 7.39 percent in the last five years. During FY19, the gap stood at around 81 lakh but dropped to 55.13 lakh in FY23.

More than 6.43 crore new members joined the EPF scheme during the period from September 2017 to March 2023, according to EPFO data.

According to the State of Working India 2023 report by Azim Premji University, the share of workers with a regular wage or salaried work started increasing in 2004, rising from 18 percent to 25 percent for men and 10 per cent to 25 per cent for women.

ALSO READ | Student visas for Canada may get delayed by 6 months, ed consultants say

However, the report highlighted that female self-employment rates have risen since 2019 due to a distress-led increase. Before Covid-19, 50 percent of women were self-employed and this rose to 60 percent in the post-Covid period. As a result, earnings from self-employment have declined in real terms over this period.

Two years after the 2020 lockdown, self-employment earnings were only 85 percent of what they were in the April-June 2019 quarter, the report noted.