The age specific labour force participation rates for males and females for rural and urban areas as well as for all the areas considered together.
As age increased, the labour force participation rates for males went up. For the 25-59 age groups, the participation rates were above 93 per hundred populations, indicating that practically every able bodied male in this age group participated in economic activity.
Even for the age group above 60, this rate was quite high for males (65 per cent). The general pattern of the age specific labour force participation rates indicates that males enter the labour force at an early age and continue in it up to an advanced age.
Here again, it is worth noting that the rural rates are higher than the urban rates for each age group.
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The differences between the male and female labour force participation rates are quite striking. The female rate is considerably lower than the male rate for each group.
Marked rural-urban differences in these rates were also observed in 1991, with the rural rates being considerably higher than the urban rates.
It may be pointed out here that labour force participation of females depends on, among other factors, their marital status, the number of children born to them, social customs, as well as the attitude of society towards female participation in the labour force.
According to Visaria’s observations, in urban Maharashtra, never-married females report work participation more frequently than currently married females but less frequently than widows and divorced females.
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On the other hand, in rural Maharashtra, the never- married females have lower labour force participation rates than both currently married females as well as widowed and divorced females.