The link between women’s workforce participation and the welfare of the community with a positive impact on health and education has been known for long. And, here is a new study that has reinstated the same by establishing a connect between household-level food security and active women’s workforce participation in the semi-arid rural areas of five states in India.
The study conducted by the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) covered 18 villages in states like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
The study found out that the financial independence a woman gains through her workforce participation can result in an increase in the nutritional uptake through a diversified food basket, resulting in household-level food security.
The results of the study discussed in an article by one of the researchers in The Hindu Business Line also found that their participation in the workforce, despite the time and energy spent, resulted in better health for them with better dietary choices.
