NSO Million-Plus Cities Labour Report: Women and Care Work
Why in the news
The National Statistics Office released a first-of-its-kind profile of employment in India’s 46 largest cities. It shows that care duties remain the main reason urban women stay out of paid work, even in affluent cities.
Key facts
- Title: Labour Market Dynamics in Million-Plus Cities, issued by NSO under MoSPI, built on PLFS 2024-25.
- 68.7% of women outside the labour force in these cities blame childcare and chores; just 1% of men do.
- Salaried women earn 23% less: ₹23,700 against ₹30,700 a month for men.
- In self-employment women earn under half: ₹16,160 against ₹33,880.
- Female LFPR climbed from 19.8% (2017-18) to 27.2% (2025).
- Youth (15-29) NEET rate is 22.2% in these cities against 25% for urban India.
- A companion report, ASUSE 2025, covers urban informal enterprises.
City-wise share of women citing care work
| Highest | Share | Lowest | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howrah | 83% | Coimbatore | 38% |
| Surat | 81% | Agra | 41% |
| Pimpri-Chinchwad | 78% | Kota | 57% |
| Bhopal | 78% | Hyderabad | 58% |
| Dhanbad | 77% | Visakhapatnam and Srinagar | 60% each |
About PLFS
- Run by the NSO under MoSPI since 2017-18, replacing the five-yearly employment-unemployment surveys of NSSO; the idea came from the Amitabh Kundu Committee (2010).
- Sample of roughly 1 lakh households a year; urban households are visited four times a year, rural ones once.
- Monthly bulletins began from 2025-26 alongside the annual reports.
Key definitions
- LFPR: share of people aged 15+ who are working or looking for work.
- WPR: share of people aged 15+ actually employed.
- Usual Status: last 365 days; Current Weekly Status: last 7 days.
- NEET: not in employment, education or training, ages 15-29.
About ASUSE and the NSO
- ASUSE (Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises) covers non-farm, non-construction enterprises; in 2025 Greater Hyderabad had the most informal workers (~15.7 lakh) and Kolkata the most enterprises (~8.84 lakh).
- The NSO was formed in May 2019 by merging CSO and NSSO; MoSPI itself dates from 15 October 1999.
Exam angle
- Data source: PLFS 2024-25; reference period July-June.
- Nodal body: NSO, MoSPI. PLFS began in 2017-18.
- Highest and lowest care-burden cities are likely static-GK questions.