After rising slightly until 2005, female participation has declined thereafter in most income categories, but most strikingly among the lower income groups in rural areas. Income quintiles refer to the monthly per capita consumption expenditure of households. More than half of women work as self-employed (for definitions see Annex 1), of which most are unpaid helpers. The large rise in female participation until 2005 and the drop thereafter was among the unpaid self-employed group (unpaid helpers can be agricultural workers within a family, shop assistants or street vendors) (Figure 4).