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This study attempts to carry out an empirical investigation regarding the role of marriage as a structural constraint to women’s employability in India. The National Sample Survey data based analysis shows that the heterogeneity of women’s employment is significantly controlled by their orientation to work where marriage acts as an important mediating factor. Significant differences are observed between the workforce participation of currently married and never married women across different educational attainment and socio-demographic segments. However, the way marriage operates as a formal barrier to women’s workability merely depends on the historically available opportunities and constraints experienced by them.