The garment industry plays a vital role in providing employment to rural, less educated females and the economic liberalization that has occurred in India in the last three decades has significantly altered traditional. The large scale movement across categories of employment confirms the proposition regarding volatility in women’s employment. In one phase when casual work came under pressure, many women seem to have taken to self employment. In the second phase, when obviously self employment did not offer adequate opportunities, there was a movement towards regular wage employment. Nevertheless, it bears underlining that the rise in numbers and proportions of domestic workers has not been able to offset declines in other sectors of employment and it would be a mistake to think that the expansion in demand for and supply of women domestic workers can work as a lever to raise the female work participation rates in any significant or meaningful manner.