The census of 1981 made the definition of 'worker' more rigorous and describes a worker as one who has worked in an economic activity or productive work over a period of six months or more. Consequently, the worker-population ratio among females reduced considerably.
Many women stay out of productive work as they are discouraged to work out of homes by families which have men learning a higher income. Males are engaged in more productive work because they have higher skills and higher levels of literacy in India.