Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

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secretarial practice and data preparation – during the
same period (Government of Kerala, 2001). 4
2.3 Quality of Employment
At a basic level, as dictated by data availability,
quality of employment is examined in terms of
‘casual employment’, ‘self-employment’ and ‘regular
employment’. The evidence presented in Table 7.5
indicates a higher level of regular employment for
rural men and women in Kerala compared to all-India
levels. The urban women in Kerala also compare well
with all India. The tendency during the 1990s is one
of significant increase for rural women followed by
marginal increase for rural men and urban women.
However, there is a decline for urban men.
Self-employment is a mixed category and hence need
not necessarily be an indication of higher quality of
employment than casual labour. In the Indian context,
it may not be far off the mark to say that a considerable
section of the self-employed are usually the labouring
poor and this might hold good for Kerala too
(see Section 1.6).
The greater incidence of casual employment among
men in Kerala is in contrast to the all-India situation.
However, both in Kerala and at the all-India level,
there is a higher incidence of casual employment in
rural areas than in urban areas. The quality of casual
employment is reckoned to be higher in Kerala given
higher wage rate, a high degree of unionisation leading
to stable working hours, and non-wage benefits through
such collective care arrangements as welfare funds and
other social security measures (Kannan 1992, 2001
and 2002). These factors could be attracting more men
than women.
2.4 Characteristics of the Employed
The nature of employment in terms of regularity and
security is expected to be an important issue for the
educated. In general, a quarter of the educated employed
in the 2003 survey reported being self-employed and
around 16 per cent were in casual employment, leaving
around 60 per cent in regular/permanent employment.
Regular employment denoted continuity of employment
but no security whereas permanence denoted security
as well.
In general, the educated prefer salaried employment
as denoted by regular/permanent employment
followed by self-employment. An overwhelming
majority of women reported regular/permanent
employment (82 per cent), with 11 per cent being
in self-employment and only around 7 per cent
in casual employment as opposed to 51, 19 and
30 per cent, respectively, for men (Table 7.6). In
this context, it is not surprising to find that a higher
proportion of women is employed in the public sector
(45 per cent) than men (34 per cent). Education
is associated with greater access to employment
in the public/private sectors. Higher educational
qualifications went alongside higher employment
Table 7.5: Employment by Status, National Sample Survey Organisation
Self Employment Regular Employment Casual Employment
1987-88 1993-94 1999-00 1987-88 1993-94 1999-00 1987-88 1993-94 1999-00
Kerala
Rural Male 44.6 40.8 38.1 12.2 12.3 13.0 43.2 46.9 48.9
Rural Female 57.7 55.0 53.0 9.4 9.7 15.0 32.9 35.3 32.0
Urban Male 41.0 37.5 37.4 32.6 26.8 28.0 26.4 35.7 34.6
Urban Female 51.5 45.8 50.9 30.9 26.6 31.9 17.6 27.6 17.2
All-India
Rural Male 58.6 57.7 55.0 10.0 8.5 8.8 31.4 33.8 36.2
Rural Female 60.8 58.6 57.3 3.7 2.7 3.1 35.5 38.7 39.6
Urban Male 41.7 41.7 41.5 43.7 42.2 41.7 14.6 16.1 16.8
Urban Female 47.1 44.8 45.3 27.5 29.2 33.3 25.4 26.0 21.4
Source: 1987-88: Sarvekshana, September 1990; 1993-94: Sarvekshana, July-September 1996; 1999-00: “Employment and Unemployment Situation in India”, 1999-2000,
Report No. 458,NSS 55th Round, NSSO, Government of India, May 2001 Sarvekshana.
4 For more details and analysis see Eapen and Kodoth (2003).