Eleventh Five Year Plan

Towards Women’s Agency and Child Rights 189TABLE 6.2Average Wage/Salary Earnings (Rs Per Day) Received by Regular Wage/SalariedEmployees of Age 15–59 Years for Different Education LevelsCategory Rural males Rural females Urban males Urban females1999–2000 2004–05 1999–2000 2004–05 1999–2000 2004–05 1999–2000 2004–05Not literate 71.2 72.5 40.3 35.7 87.6 98.8 51.8 48.7Literate upto primary 91.6 98.6 161.5 97.8 105.1 111.4 64.4 64.8Sec/H.Sec 148.2 158.0 126.1 100.2 168.2 182.6 145.7 150.4Dip/Cert – 214.4 – 200.4 – 274.9 – 237.0Graduate and others 220.9 270.0 159.9 172.7 281.6 366.8 234.7 269.2All 127.3 144.9 113.3 85.5 169.7 203.3 140.3 153.2Source: NSSO 55th and 61st Round.Unorganized Sector6.22 On an average, unorganized sector workers earnone-fourth the wage of organized sector workers, oftendoing similar jobs. It is estimated that 118 millionworkers or 97% of the female workforce are involvedin the unorganized sector. Agriculture is the mainemployer of women informal workers. 75% of the totalfemale workforce and 85% of rural women areemployed in agriculture as wage workers or workerson own/contracted household farms. 9 As men migrateto non-farm jobs, there has been an increasing feminizationof agriculture. But even as the face of thefarmer becomes increasingly female, few women havedirect access to agricultural land affecting their abilityto optimize agricultural productivity.6.23 The non-agriculture segment of the informalsector engages 27 million workers or 23% of thefemale workforce. 10 It is estimated that more thanhalf of the 31 million construction workers in India(90% of them informal) are women. The seasonalityof work and the lack of alternate avenues lead toexploitation and ensure that these women remainthe poorest and most vulnerable.Home-Based Workers6.24 Due to lack of qualifications and training, absenceof childcare support, loss of formal employment,social and cultural constraints and absence of alternatives,around 57% of working women are home-basedworkers. As home-based work is sometimes the onlyalternative for the poorest communities, it inevitablyinvolves children, especially girls.Services Sector6.25 The number of women in the services sectorhas increased. According to NSSO data, in 2000, 12%of the female workforce was employed in the tertiarysector. Women, however, remain underrepresentedin higher level and higher paid jobs. The biggest singleincrease after apparels has been among those employedin private households. More than 3 million womenor over 12% of all women workers in urban Indiawork as domestic servants. 11 These women are poorlypaid and often are forced to work under harshconditions. It is also important to note that nearly60% of the women from the organized sector areemployed in community, social, and personnelservices.Government Sector6.26 Women’s representation in government sectorhas improved from 11% in 1981 to 18.5% in 2004(Table 6.3). At the grass roots level, women are playinga more active role in Panchayati Raj bodies andtheir representation in Panchayats has gone up from33.5% in 1995 to 37.8% in 2005. Women’s presence inParliament has, however, only increased slightly; from6.1% in 1989 to 9.1% in 2004. The issue of reservationof seats for women in Parliament remains unresolved.In 2004, only six Ministers of State and one CabinetMinister were women.9Planning Commission: Report of the Sub Group on Gender and Agriculture, 2007.10Jeemol Unni (2003), ‘Gender Informality and Poverty’, Seminar, 531, November 2003.11Women Workers in Urban India, Macroscan, C.P. Chandrashekhar and Jayati Ghosh (2007).