Workers in the Time of COVID-19: Round II of the National Study on Informal Workers
فوکس
This report presents the findings from the second round of a national survey on informal workers in India, conducted by the ActionAid Association. It aimed to assess the impact on livelihoods, wages, consumption, and access to social security for informal workers after the initial lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The first round of the survey was published in August 2020 while this second round was published in February 2021.
The survey was carried out between August 23 and September 8, 2020, during the ‘unlock’ phase of the pandemic. It covered 16,961 informal workers across 23 states and five union territories, revisiting 4,818 workers from the first round to track changes over time. The methodology involved interviews conducted mostly over the phone or through short on-site conversations.
The study found that months into the unlock phase, the economic distress for informal workers had not eased. Key findings point to continued high unemployment and rising underemployment, a significant shift of labour into the agricultural sector, and worryingly low wages with a stark gender disparity. This has led to depleted savings, rising debt taken mostly for food, and inconsistent access to government welfare schemes, particularly in urban areas. The report concludes with recommendations to strengthen social safety nets, including extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), expanding the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), introducing an urban employment scheme, supporting small enterprises, and facilitating safe migration.
This 112-page document is divided into seven chapters: Introduction (Chapter 1); Revisiting Workers From Round One (Chapter 2); Transitions in the World of Work (Chapter 3); Increasing Precarity of Informal Workers (Chapter 4); Status of Social Security (Chapter 5); Impact of Natural Emergencies and Reduced Mobility (Chapter 6); Conclusion and Recommendations (Chapter 7).
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During the ‘unlock’ phase (August-September 2020), nearly half (48 per cent) of the 16,961 informal workers surveyed were unemployed. Of those who had found work, 42 per cent were only employed part-time or occasionally.
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The economic recovery was extremely slow for many. Of the workers who were rendered unemployed by the lockdown in May 2020 (during the first survey round), 42 per cent remained unemployed even nearly four months later in September.
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The pandemic triggered a major shift in livelihoods from construction and manufacturing to agriculture. Among workers revisited from the first survey round, more than 33 per cent of those who were in construction before the lockdown had moved to the agriculture sector during the unlock phase.
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Wages remained precariously low, with almost half of the surveyed workers earning less than Rs. 5,000 per month. Only eight per cent reported earning more than Rs. 10,000 per month.
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A significant gender disparity in wages was observed across all major occupations. The gap was highest among loading/unloading workers, where 75 per cent of men earned over Rs. 5,000 per month compared to just 36 per cent of women. This disparity persisted even in sectors where women outnumbered men, such as tailoring and the garment industry.
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To meet essential needs, 39 per cent of all respondents reported having to borrow money during the unlock phase. The incidence of debt was markedly higher for women (45 per cent) compared to men (34 per cent). Debt was primarily taken for survival. Over 75 per cent of those who borrowed money did so to cover food expenses. Other major reasons included healthcare (35 per cent), restarting livelihoods (29 per cent), and paying electricity bills (25 per cent).
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Workers relied heavily on informal credit networks, which is a classical instance of their exclusion from the formal banking system. Over 62 per cent of loans came from friends, relatives, and neighbours, while about 31 per cent came from traditional moneylenders. Only seven per cent of workers were able to secure loans from formal banking institutions.
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Access to the Public Distribution System (PDS) was better in rural areas than in urban centres. Over 82 per cent of rural respondents could access free food grains under PMGKAY, compared to 69 per cent of urban respondents, due to a weaker social security infrastructure in cities.
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The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) failed to meet the demand for work in many states. In Bihar, for instance, of the 263 respondents who sought work under the scheme, only 14 (about 5 per cent) received it.
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The hardships of the lockdown made many workers reluctant to migrate again. Of those who had migrated for work before the lockdown, 54 per cent expressed a desire to remain in their source village/area. The primary reason cited was fear of disease in the destination area.
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A clear shift towards intra-state migration was visible. Among returnee migrants who started working again, 49 per cent migrated within their home state, up from 36 per cent before the lockdown. For 'new' migrants who had not migrated before, this figure was 95 per cent.
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The pandemic's impact was further increased by natural disasters like cyclones and floods. Of the 1,621 respondents affected by such emergencies, over 63 per cent reported damage to their homes and nearly 53 per cent reported loss of livelihood.
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The quality of employment deteriorated, with a noticeable shift from regular to casual work. This resulted in fewer protections. For example, 71 per cent of regular workers had an eight-hour workday with a break, compared to only 50 per cent of casual workers.
Focus and Factoids by Akeel Adam.
PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.
مزعومہ حقائق
مصنف
ActionAid Association (India)
کاپی رائٹ
ActionAid Association (India)
تاریخ اشاعت
اپریل, 2021
