The share of women in new formal jobs rose to a high of 26% in September from 18-22% in earlier months, reports the Financial Express, citing the latest payroll data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation.  Of the total 1.04 million new subscribers who joined the EPF scheme in September, 272,395 were women. The number of men who enrolled with the EPF was 774,751. “To be sure, not all new subscribers joining in the EPF scheme can be considered to be new jobs since there could be some element of formalisation of the economy with several having held jobs in the informal sector,” the Fund Organisation added. Suchita Dutta, executive director of the Indian Staffing Federation, attributed the rise in the share of women to their increased participation as healthcare and care-giving workers since the pandemic and also to the opening up of more opportunities for them in the packaging and facility management services sectors.