Women Empowerment - Analysis of Government Policies and the Way Forward

Women comprise approximately half of the world's population. Even today, in our society, women are not given prime decision-making roles in most of the professions and in households. In the past, there have been numerous articles on women's empowerment which have focused upon social, economic and political realms. However, this article sheds light on women's empowerment with reference to the Economic Survey 2023-24 and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (July,2023 – June,2024). This study analyses the gender-wise sectoral trends with a comparative analysis of the rural and urban areas and the status of employment in India. It examines the main factors leading to the under-representation of women in the main workforce and concludes by giving some suggestions for overcoming the obstacles to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5.