The Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Claudia Goldin in 2023 has renewed attention on issues of women’s work. In this context, this article critically revisits the debate on the declining participation of women in the rural labor market in India, drawing on fieldwork data from two villages in Tamil Nadu. It explores the complexities of women’s labor force participation and argues that women’s work decisions are shaped by a complex interplay of economic necessity, societal prestige, and individual aspirations, all mediated by caste, class, and patriarchal norms. The withdrawal of women from the labor market is often viewed as a marker of social prestige and tends to occur as households experience upward economic mobility. Building on this insight, the article offers a nuanced understanding of how social norms and institutions shape women’s labor market outcomes, by tracing the factors and processes at play on the ground.
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