Women Workers in Informal Sector in India: Understanding the Occupational Vulnerability

Unorganised or informal sector constitutes a pivotal part of the Indian economy. More than 90 per cent of workforce and about 50 per cent of the national product are accounted for by the informal economy. A high proportion of socially and economically underprivileged sections of society are concentrated in the informal economic activities [1]. Informal employment is generally a larger source of employment for women than for men in the developing world. Other than in North Africa where 43 per cent of women workers are in informal employment, 60 per cent or more of women workers in the developing world are in informal employment(outside agriculture). In sub-Saharan Africa 84 per cent of women non-agricultural workers; in Latin America 58 per cent for women in comparison to 48 percent for men. In Asia, the proportion of women and men non-agricultural workers in informal employment is roughly equivalentto Women and Men in the Informal Economy [2].The informal economy in India employs about 86 per cent of the country’s work force and 91 per cent of its women workers [3]. Many of these women workers are primary earners for their families. Their earnings are necessary for sheer survival. Low income women workers, especially in the informal sectorform one of the most vulnerable groups in the Indian economy. The reasons for their vulnerability are-(a) irregular work, (b) low economic status, (c) little or no bargaining power, (d) lack of control over earnings, (e) need to balance paid work with care for children and homework, (f) little or no access to institutional credit, training and information, and (g) lack of assets. Unequal gender relations play a very important role in defining their insecurities. Given their vulnerable status at home and at work, income generation alone may not improve the socio-economic status of women attached to the informal sector. Their economic empowerment needs to go along with political empowerment, which could improve their bargaining power both in household and at work. This means that organizing women workers in the informl economy could have beneficial impacts on their work and their life if such organizationcombines voices representation along with access to resources such as credit and information- a holistic strategy that provides political empowerment allied with economic empowerment.The present study aims at understanding the degree of vulnerabilityof the women workers in informal sector in India. Towards fulfilling the objective, a small study has been conducted in the State of Odisha, to find out the realities.Results suggest that a highly visible percentage of occupational group irrespective of their monthly average income, continue to face multiple constraints which otherwise compel them to live a life full of compromises.