Women cannot work because of poor services.

Between 2004 and 2012 number of working women in India declined by nearly 7% to 22.5% according to the National Sample Survey Office, while globally at least one third of women work. In Maharashtra farmers in Waifad village have to transport women from Wardha town, 18 km away to work as labor on their farms. In rural areas a combination of factors are contributing to women leaving the workforce. A lot of these factors are very good. Rural wages have risen by 6.8% from 2007 to 2011 after accounting for inflation which would mean that one income could suffice for a family. Instead of breaking their backs in farm labor women can avail the MNREGA which pays for 100 days a year for doing nothing. It is not just women but the total rural labor force has declined from 238 million in 1999 to 231 million in 2012. A lot of this labor has migrated to the construction industry. From 2000 to 2012 the labor force in construction has grown from 16 to 50 million at 17% per annum, in rural areas it has grown from 9.4 to 37.2 million. Women are aspiring to higher education and are moving to cities in greater numbers for white collar jobs. There are also the problems of caste segregation and sexual attacks in rural areas. That would mean that participation by women in the workforce in towns and cities must be increasing. But here too the numbers of working women has declined. While there seem to be plenty of studies suggesting that greater participation by women in the workforce increases profitability and is good for the economy by increasing the pool of labor, when it comes to reasons for their refusal to work pundits seem to fall back on the tired western rhetoric of gender inequality and patriarchal society in India. Anyone who has brought up children recently would know that the biggest impediment is education. Schools close at mid-day and have long vacations which means someone has to be home to care for little children. If teachers are made to work from 9 to 5 throughout the year, taking holidays in rotation as happens in any office, all mothers could work. There should be job sharing so that 2 people worked half a day each. Services such as water and electricity supply must be dependable. School fees have risen 433% since the Congress came to power in 2004 so perhaps her salary cannot pay for transport costs and baby minders. Stupid laws will not make it easy for women to work.