IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/agspub/v15y2026i2p127-150.html

Does “Feminization U Hypothesis†Hold? A Discussion on Women’s Work Participation in Rural India

Author

Listed:
  • C. R. Yadu

Abstract

The Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Claudia Goldin in 2023 has renewed attention on issues of women’s work. In this context, this article critically revisits the debate on the declining participation of women in the rural labor market in India, drawing on fieldwork data from two villages in Tamil Nadu. It explores the complexities of women’s labor force participation and argues that women’s work decisions are shaped by a complex interplay of economic necessity, societal prestige, and individual aspirations, all mediated by caste, class, and patriarchal norms. The withdrawal of women from the labor market is often viewed as a marker of social prestige and tends to occur as households experience upward economic mobility. Building on this insight, the article offers a nuanced understanding of how social norms and institutions shape women’s labor market outcomes, by tracing the factors and processes at play on the ground.

Suggested Citation

  • C. R. Yadu, 2026. "Does “Feminization U Hypothesis†Hold? A Discussion on Women’s Work Participation in Rural India," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 15(2), pages 127-150, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:15:y:2026:i:2:p:127-150
    DOI: 10.1177/22779760261434073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22779760261434073
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/22779760261434073?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:15:y:2026:i:2:p:127-150. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.