Goldin’s ‘U’- shaped curve hypothesis on female labour participation rate: a case study of Uttarakhand

Claudia Goldin gave the ‘U’ shaped female labour force function curve and she related it to the level of education and the emergence of the white collar sector jobs. The downward trend in the ‘U’ was due to rise in incomes because of expansion of markets and shift from farm activities to factory work; this she has denoted as the income effect on the female participation rate. However, when educational level rises and as the value of women’s time in the market increases still further, they move back into the paid labour force, which is reflected in the rising portion of the U-shaped curve; this she has stated as the substitution effect. This paper is an attempt to study this income and substitution effect on female participation rates in Uttarakhand state. Uttarakhand is 13 years old and has seven districts out of thirteen with more women than men. This paper will make a comparative study of the rural and urban female labour participation rates of the state and correlate it to the level of education. There will be an attempt to conclude whether the state’s women are at the declining portion of the U-curve or on the rising portion of the curve.