India's unorganized industrial sector employs 43 per cent of women, mainly in low-wage, low-quality jobs. Women-led proprietorships make up 25 per cent of all unorganized businesses, with 947 proprietary set-ups per 1,000 unorganized businesses, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MoSPI) Annual Survey on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) 2022-2023.
ASUSE data shows a positive trend of female leadership in commerce, manufacturing, and service industries. Women lead almost half of India's unincorporated manufacturing businesses, with 12.4 per cent of firms in trade and 11.1 per cent in services industries with higher percentages in the southern regions, particularly in Telangana at 78.56 per cent, Kerela at 59.61 per cent, and Karnataka at 64.03 per cent where women manage unorganized manufacturing businesses.
Women run 53.81 per cent of Andhra Pradesh's unorganized manufacturing businesses and over half in Tamil Nadu's sector, but these numbers fall short of the national norm—cities like Delhi, Uttarakhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana, and Punjab shows lower percentages.
Globally, women are overrepresented in low-wage industries like childcare, healthcare, and personal care services, contributing to the gender pay gap. Addressing this requires collaboration between governments, employers, and advocacy groups to ensure fair wages, better working conditions, and career advancement opportunities. Comprehensive policies, promoting gender equality in education and training, and challenging societal norms are needed to ensure women's access to better-paying and secure jobs.
