Half of India ’s working-age population (15 years and above), for the first time, is not contributing to any economic activity, according to the National Sample Survey Office’s ( NSSO ’s) latest jobs survey. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) stood at 49.8 per cent in 2017-18, falling sharply from 55.9 per cent in 2011-12, Business Standard reported based on the leaked survey.LFPR is the section of working population in the age group of 16-64 in the economy currently employed or seeking employment. People who are still undergoing studies, housewives and persons above the age of 64 are not factored in the labour force.A few days ago, Business Standard leaked the survey and reported that India's unemployment rate had risen to a 45-year high during 2017-2018. However, Niti Aayog has disputed the veracity of the leak, saying that the survey was yet not final."It is a serious cause of worry as you are unable to utilise the demographic dividend factor — especially keeping in mind the fact that 65 percent of the population is in the working age group," Radhicka Kapoor, senior fellow, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, told Business Standard.In 2011,12, however, LFPR had declined by 11.5 per cent, higher than the drop seen in 2017-18, the report said.The report says the proportion of the active labour force declined twice for females between 2011-12 and 2017-18. Compared to 2011-12, the LFPR for females fell by 8 percentage points to 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 whereas the LFPR for males dipped by 4 percentage points to 75.8 per cent. So only a quarter of the females in the country were either working or seeking jobs.According to the report, the fall in LFPR was far more in rural areas, from 67.7% to 58.7%, than in urban areas, from 49.3% to 47.6%. The gap in LFPR has narrowed between urban and rural areas due to a decline in the active labour force in villages.“Education plays a big role in the declining size of the labour force. But case studies and field reports also suggest that lack of suitable work, especially for women, is not readily available. Flexibility in work timings and proximity to their households are an important factor for females,” Amit Basole, head of the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Bengaluru-based Azim Premji University told Business Standard. Though the female LFPR in urban areas stayed almost at the same level, at 20.4% in 2017-18, it declined sharply by more than 11 percentage points in rural areas.