This paper examines certain aspects of employment among women
workers in hired labour households, drawing on two surveys of
Gokilapuram, a village in south-west Tamil Nadu, India, conducted in
1977 and 1999. The study finds that, first, work participation rates among
women were high. Secondly, a woman was able to gain employment in
1999, on average, for only about six months a year. Thirdly, there was a
distinct shift between 1977 and 1999 in the composition of total
employment available to women Fourthly, while the real wage rate for
women at cash-paid, daily-rated crop operations rose significantly
between 1977 and 1999, the gender gap in wages widened.
JEL Classification: J2, J3, J11
Key words: women, agriculture, wages, work participation rate, Asia,
Indi
