The U-shaped link between an Indian wife's job and her husband's salary
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) upends the common gender norm of the “male breadwinner” norm, i.e. husbands are considered the primary earners with wives contributing to household income only if necessary.
According to the State of Working India 2023 report by Azim Premji University which analyses PLFS data, in the households where the husband’s earnings are high, the probability of the wife being employed is low, controlling for individual and household factors.
The fall in this probability slows down as husband’s incomes increase in rural India, while for urban areas, there is a reversal beyond a certain level of income. As husband’s earnings keep rising, from approximately ₹40,000 per month onwards, there is an increased likelihood of wives being employed.
This U-shaped pattern could result from a change in norms with rising incomes or it could also be due to the fact that such husbands are matched with higher educated wives who have preferences as well as opportunities to access better paid work.
Marriage bumps up women participation in workforce
For its e India Working Survey, Azim Premji University collected long-term, retrospective data on men’s and women’s life events and occupational history from the time they were 15 years of age.
Women experienced a sharp jump in workforce participation from 26% in the year preceding marriage to 49% in the first five years of marriage. This employment was largely as contributing family workers or self-employment in agricultural work. Thus, for women in the informal economy, rather than a marriage or motherhood penalty for employment, we find the reverse. But the absence of a penalty may not be a positive outcome since it likely reflects a compulsion to work for subsistence.
