Hence, India’s female LFPR should be a focus of public policy. Not only has it declined sharply over time, despite otherwise high economic growth, we also see that across income categories it follows a U-shaped curve. As women’s income rises, they pull out of the labour force. In a recent research paper by Sonalde Desai and others, the authors explore this paradox of rising education, skills and income and declining women’s employment in India. They examine comprehensive micro level and family level data using two waves of India Human Development Survey. Their finding suggests that as women get more education and skills, their potential earning power goes up. So they earn more in less time and less work, allowing them to devote more time to leisure and home work. That reduces their LFPR. Educated women also tend to marry into families with higher incomes which too reduces their workforce participation. Of course there are cultural and social explanations too. But apart from such “income effects” i.e. reduced workforce participation due to higher incomes, there is a more serious impediment. This is the availability of suitable jobs for educated women. If there is implicit sex segregation which excludes women from sales and clerical jobs, then that too would reduce their workforce participation.