Unleashing India's economy rests on including Women in its Workforce

In a few months, a baby will be born in India. On the surface, this is not that remarkable, indeed 86,000 babies are born every day in India. But this newborn will represent an incredible shift in global demographics as India will eclipse China as the world’s most populous country. According to the UN Population Fund, India’s growing population is to surpass 1.428bn by mid 2023, just above the more than 1.425bn people in China.

Population growth has obvious economic advantages and it is no small coincidence that India - home to the highest number of working-age people - has recently overtaken China as the fastest-growing major economy. It is hoped that this “demographic dividend” will fuel India’s growth for decades to come - but only if properly managed. Just one of many issues is addressing the issue of female labour participation.

India’s female employment rate is among the lowest for emerging economies, rated at just 25% in 2022. Even more concerning is that despite an improvement in economic conditions, the rate of female employment has actually declined by 10% since 2004.

There are various explanations as to why this is. The national employment crisis is one. Despite rapid growth, the economy is struggling to accommodate the sheer number of young people and the growing sectors of IT, telecoms and outsourcing are simply not manpower intensive. With 7% of the population unemployed, women are competing in a tight labour market.

Cultural beliefs which view women as primary caregivers compound this issue, with women who leave the home to enter the workforce often stigmatised by the community. "Family is the first priority for many women across the world, but especially in a country like India that's very traditional,” says A. L. Sharada, sociologist, demographer and director of Population Fund. “We still [have] a glorified image of women as mothers sacrificing, caring and nurturing. The other aspects of a woman – as a competitor or achiever with aspirations — are not given much importance." Meanwhile, a lack of access to family planning and traditional perspectives on female education have further stymied participation.

For those who do overcome these barriers, social norms act as a further constraint. In rural areas, the lack of public transport is limiting participation whilst in India’s busy urban centres there are safety concerns around travelling to work. Moreover the gender discrimination which women suffer in the workplace, in terms of wages and opportunities, creates further barriers.

If India is to seize the opportunity of its demographic dividend then women must be incorporated into the formal economy and enter the most productive industries. Boosting access to family planning services, fostering a shift in societal views, and ensuring the safety of women would facilitate a greater number of women joining the formal work environment and have enormous repercussions for the Indian economy. Industry professionals argue that closing this gap could unlock immense economic potential. According to a 2018 McKinsey report, a 10 percent increase in female workforce involvement could contribute an additional $552 billion to the country's GDP.

Everyone recognises the incredible potential of India this century, in geopolitics, finance, business and manufacturing. It is time India seized the potential contribution of their women in realising this potential.

Green Day or Groundhog Day?

Yesterday Grant Shapps, the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, unveiled the Government’s plans for an “energy revolution”. The document itself is impressive - comprising 2,840 pages, incorporating multiple departments and an even wider range of projects. From carbon capture and nuclear energy, to offshore windfarms and green finance, the plan is to “power Britain from Britain”. But is Shapps taking the Michael with his Green policy? The supposed revolution has come under fire from opposition political parties, green business groups and academics alike. With much of the wind taken out of the turbines by Jeremy Hunt’s last minute funding intervention, and with many of the plans based on existing government commitments, the strategy has been accused of being more of a Groundhog Day than a Green Day. We take a look at the key projects and the reactions below.

The project: Powering Up Britain, Energy Security Plan.

• Carbon Capture and Storage.

• The Plan revealed the first Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) development projects to benefit from the £20bn of funding promised in the Spring Budget. CCS technology was presented by Shapps as a justification for the continued production of oil and gas in the North Sea, as the carbon dioxide released by the drilling would be captured and stored in large undersea caverns. The programme has been strongly criticised by scientists who argue that CCS has “yet to be proved at scale” - only last week more than 700 scientists wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to halt the licensing of new oil and gas developments in the UK.

• Insulation.

• The ECO+ scheme, launched in November 2022 and which offers £1bn in insulation for those in council tax bands A-D by 2026, has been repackaged and presented in the Plan as the “Great British Insulation Scheme”.

• Floating offshore wind and other renewables.

• The Plan announced the “launch” of a £160 million floating offshore wind fund with a 12-week competition for manufacturers, and payments made between now and 2025. However, critics suggest that this appears to be the same fund that Boris Johnson announced in October 2021 ahead of COP26.

• Nuclear energy.

• In an effort to expand the British nuclear programme, the government has launched Great British Nuclear (GBN), a flagship organisation which will support the UK’s nuclear industry by providing better opportunities to build and invest. The first priority for the GBN is to launch a competitive process to select the best Small Modular Reactor technologies.

The project: Green Finance Strategy

• In the final days of Theresa May’s premiership, the government released a Green Finance Strategy, outlining how the UK will accelerate the growth of green finance. Yesterday, Sunak’s administration released an updated version which aims to mobilise private sector money for investments in green industry. The new plan includes changes to green finance taxonomies, the launch of new advisory committees on integrated sustainability reporting, increased guidance on Scope 3 emissions and a promised consultation on the Net Zero transition for later in the year. The Shapps tactic of rebrand and relaunch seems to have made its way into the Treasury brief, with a relaunch of the June 2020 Green Finance Education Charter within the Strategy.

• The Green Finance Strategy was well received by figures in the green economy. Green Finance Institute chief Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas said: “The Strategy sets out a step change in how the UK will mobilise the finance needed to limit catastrophic warming and catalyse investment into nature. Today’s announcement broadens our mandate to work with government and the market to accelerate the mobilisation of capital to restore and protect nature as well as to decarbonise critical sectors, alongside well-designed long-term policy.”

The Net Zero Growth Plan

• In January, Chris Skidmore published his Independent Review of the Net Zero Strategy. The Net Zero Growth Plan is the Government’s formal response to this document, which addresses each of the 129 recommendations. The recommendations that have been taken on board include the establishment of Great British Nuclear, a target for the UK to host 70GW of solar by 2035 and the creation of a new forum for industry regulators to collaborate on net-zero. However, one of Skidmore’s major recommendations - the formation of an Office for Net Zero Delivery to ensure cross department collaboration- has not been taken up, with the government arguing that the new Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero is sufficient.

What was missing?

• Perhaps by announcing a 44 document, 2,840 page dossier on the day of Easter recess, Shapps felt that he could get away with omitting a few crucial policies, including Sunak’s promised lift of the de facto ban on onshore wind. Alok Sharma, former COP26 President, commented on the omission; “we do need a change in policy to allow onshore wind projects to re-start and the sooner the government announces this the better.”

• Another notable omission is the Treasury’s response package to Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. In autumn last year, Biden announced a $370bn green plan which aimed to accelerate private investment in clean energy solutions, a move which many fear will lure Britain’s green industries over to the US. Hunt offered no response to Biden’s plans, instead kicking the can into the long grass of the Autumn Budget. The shadow Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband called the inaction “absolutely shameful”, remarking that other countries were getting ahead while the Tories were still deciding “whether to tie up their laces”.

How has the industry reacted?

• Mel Evans, head of Climate at Greenpeace UK, stated that “As climate chaos hits our shores and millions struggle to pay their bills, ministers have again spectacularly failed to rise to the challenge. This piecemeal, re-heated and confusing announcement is just not enough to meaningfully tackle climate change or to provide secure, affordable energy for households. Ministers talk about leading the world, but the UK is not even making it to the starting blocks of the green tech race. A good government would go all in on renewable, efficient energy to give millions of people warm homes, clean air, lower bills and a safe climate - but Powering Up Britain is a far cry from what this country needs.”

• Climate campaign group Friends of the Earth has called the strategy “dangerously lacklustre,” and that it may renew legal action after the High Court previously found the net zero plan too vague.

• The Prospect Union says the “Powering Up plan is a paring down of ambition.”

And what do the opposition have to say?

• Keir Starmer stated that the government is “pretending it’s Green Day, but it’s Groundhog Day. This is a rehash of all the things they’ve said before, which didn’t persuade anyone.”

• Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, articulated her dissatisfaction with the announcement, stating that, “the greenest thing about this plan is the recycling of already announced ideas. We [need] a bold and visionary package to meet the scale of the climate emergency we face – yet the Government barely moves an inch”.

Can Humza Yousaf unite the SNP?

On Monday, Humza Yousaf succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland following a bruising leadership contest that exposed deep divisions within the SNP over the future direction of the party. Having defeated chief rival Kate Forbes by a narrow 52% to 48% margin, it is clear a large portion of the SNP is no longer united around anything other than the (far-off) quest for Scottish independence and, as a result, Yousaf will now face a huge challenge uniting the party. Yousaf campaigned as the ‘continuity candidate’, pledging to continue the centre-left, socially inclusive agenda of the Sturgeon era. Forbes, on the other hand, was highly critical of Sturgeon and Yousaf’s record as a minister in her governments. Forbes was defined by her socially conservative beliefs, with her plans to drop Sturgeon’s commitment to fight Westminster’s veto on the Holyrood gender recognition reform bill in the courts causing controversy, even if her policy was supported by a majority of Scots. Yousaf’s first opportunity to unite the party was the formation of his cabinet. However,Yousaf has already fallen at the first hurdle as Kate Forbes turned down his offer for the (low-octane) position of Minister for Rural Affairs, deciding instead to leave the government. If Humza Yousaf had been able to successfully work in government with previous leadership rivals it would have automatically eased tensions and offered important acknowledgement to the rival wing of his party. Additionally, a successful working relationship between Yousaf and Forbes could have provided a model of collaboration for how the party can successfully navigate differences in opinions over key policy issues, including the Scottish government’s response to the UK blocking the gender recognition reform bill The gender clash was a significant flashpoint in the leadership campaign given the growing feeling of ‘independence fatigue’ within the party. Yousaf has already shown a more conciliatory approach to this policy issue throughout the leadership campaign by backing away from his commitment to challenge the ruling by saying he will be guided by legal advice. However, he will have to continue to navigate this issue sensitively if he wishes to maintain some semblance of party unity. Ultimately, the key policy area that will need careful manoeuvring is Scottish independence, the SNP’s raison d’être. Absent the dual binding factor of Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, the issue of Scottish independence has increasingly become a tension point. Given the totemic importance of independence to the party, it would be wise for the First Minister to avoid engaging proactively with Scottish succession until he has secured full control of a fractured party.