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Organizing for Socio-Economic Security in India
Sukti Dasgupta, October 2002 Women workers in the informal economy are amongst those with least access to social protection. Given their vulnerable status at home and at work, income generation alone may not improve their socio economic status. Their economic empowerment needs to go along with political empowerment, which could improve their bargaining power both in the household and at work. This means that organizing women workers in the informal economy could have beneficial impacts on their work and their life if such organization combines voice representation along with access to resources such as credit and information - a holistic strategy that provides political empowerment allied with economic empowerment. Using data from the People's Security Survey carried out by the ILO's Socio Economic Security programme in India, this paper examines the hypothesis that such organization of women in the informal economy leads to both tangible and intangible benefits - greater income security, employment security and work security along with greater control over their earnings and greater self-esteem. I would like to thank the Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR) who coordinated the ILO's People's Security Survey in Gujarat, and to Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) for carrying out the case studies. Click here for full document in PDF |
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Created by LD. Approved by GS. Last update 4 October 2002