SOIL Report 2011 - ACCESS Development Services

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Livelihoods of the PoorIt is now commonly accepted that contraryto expectations the growth experienced bythe economy since liberalization has neitheraltered the structure of the economy, norincreased the growth rate of employment.The growth in the economy has been capitalintensive and skill intensive; the few ‘good’jobs generated required a high level of educationand/or skill, while the vast majority ofpeople have been absorbed into low-qualityjobs in the informal sector.The working poor and the poor aredeeply affected by the Indian state’s moveto liberalization–globalization. The poorexperience the slowdown in growth, unevengrowth across sectors, changes in the availabilityof jobs, credit, agricultural inputs,and displacement from land due to largescalepower and infrastructure projects;the loss of workers’ rights in the SpecialEconomic Zones (SEZs); and the benefitsfrom the government’s health, employment,education and food security initiatives. Inthe preceding three years, due to the slowdownin the global economy, the poor haveexperienced the consequences of living in aglobal economy even more acutely.This chapter will explore the impact ofsome of the changes in the economy, and thegovernment’s macroeconomic policies forgrowth and welfare for employment, healthand food security of the poor. Then a briefoverview of the framework of livelihoodsanchors the ensuing sections. This is followedby two sections devoted to discussionon employment. First is a general sectionwhich looks at employment growth, statusand sectoral and wage shifts (Section 2.2);then a section which addresses two groupsin particular—women and youth—andshifts in their labour-market participation(Section 2.3). The subsequent sections focuson the impact of global slowdown (Section2.4), food inflation and hunger on the poor(Section 2.5) and a final section on health(Section 2.6), before conclusions.2.1. UnderstandinglivelihoodsLivelihood status of a poor household is theoutcome of judicious use of capacities—inthe face of exposure to risks; of materialresources—monetary and non-monetary;of expenditures—for health, educationand social security and so on; and strategyadopted to ensure the sustenance of householdmembers. Income of poor householdsis dependent on the terms on which they cantrade their labour and assets in the market,and on returns from the marginal meansof production, such as, land, livestock (orsmall animals) and technology. It will alsodepend on what can be derived from commonproperty resources, including fish andforest produce. Labour may be exchangedas wage labour (regular or casual), contractuallabour, salaried employment orself-employment. Poor also earn someincome from government transfers andChapter2
18 State of India’s Livelihoods Report 2011social protection programmes such as oldage and disability pension. Expendituresinclude those that are necessary for dailyreproduction of life, to ensure a minimumstandard of living; for improving the livesof the present as well as the next generation(e.g., education); for sociocultural activities(e.g., marriage); for savings and investmentsto mitigate risks and vulnerabilities, andsecure future sustenance.Livelihoods of the poor are significantlymediated by the specific location of theindividual, the household and the community/groupin the maze of caste, religiousand ethnic stratification. Exclusion anddiscrimination as a result of hierarchies ofcaste, gender and other markers of differentiation,such as, disability and HIV infection,additionally disadvantage one’s position inthe labour market, independent of otherendowments. The chart below clearly showsthe inequality in outcomes based on socialand economic groups among Indian children(UNICEF 2011, p. 16).2.2. Overall employmenttrendsEarnings in the labour market provide a fair,though not exhaustive picture of the livelihoodstatus of a family. ‘Labour markets arethe main channel through which economicgrowth is distributed across regions andpeople’ (World Bank 2010, p. 2), and anincrease in earnings by itself explains about66 per cent of the variation in the householdper capita expenditure in India (ibid., p. 2,Figure 1). This section begins with a briefoverview of the recent employment trendsbefore discussing the current status.The total workforce in the countryduring 2004–05 is estimated to have been455.7 million, based on the NSS 61st RoundEmployment-Unemployment Survey andcensus population projections for differentstates. Of these 86.21 per cent worked in theinformal sector. 1 This estimate applied to33.4 million of the 45 million workers in themanufacturing sector (Unni 2006, cited inWorld Bank 2010, p. 8). This concentrationFigure 2.1: Disparity in levels of under-five mortality (per thousand) by socioeconomic characteristicsSource: UNICEF (2011, p. 16).1Raveendran (2010). The NCEUS definition ofinformal economy (see Chapter 1, n9) is used here
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Page 6 and 7: ContentsList of TablesList of Figur
Page 8 and 9: List of Tables1.1 Growth rate of Gr
Page 10 and 11: List of Figures1.1 Pattern of GNP a
Page 12 and 13: List of Boxes1.1 India a country of
Page 14 and 15: List of Abbreviations3PLADBAEPSAICT
Page 16 and 17: List of AbbreviationsxvMKSSMoEFMoRD
Page 18 and 19: PrefaceACCESS has been bringing out
Page 20 and 21: Prefacexixbring out yet another vol
Page 22 and 23: AcknowledgementsA lot of work, ener
Page 24 and 25: State of India’sLivelihoods 2011:
Page 26 and 27: State of India’s Livelihoods 2011
Page 42 and 43: Livelihoods of the Poor 19of employ
Page 44 and 45: Livelihoods of the Poor 21significa
Page 46 and 47: Livelihoods of the Poor 23last two
Page 48 and 49: Livelihoods of the Poor 25Figure 2.
Page 50 and 51: Livelihoods of the Poor 27If person
Page 54 and 55: Livelihoods of the Poor 31Table 2.3
Page 56 and 57: Livelihoods of the Poor 33home-base
Page 58 and 59: Livelihoods of the Poor 35(13.4 mil
Page 60 and 61: Livelihoods of the Poor 37on their
Page 62 and 63: Livelihoods of the Poor 39Early exp
Page 64 and 65: Livelihoods of the Poor 41(Chintan
Page 66 and 67: Livelihoods of the Poor 43A study b
Page 68 and 69: Livelihoods of the Poor 45systemati
Page 70 and 71: Livelihoods of the Poor 47and sanit
Page 72 and 73: Livelihoods of the Poor 49dispropor
Page 76 and 77: Livelihoods of the Poor 53make an i
Page 78 and 79: Livelihoods of the Poor 55and sanit
Page 80 and 81: Reflections onLivelihoods Policies3
Page 82 and 83: Reflections on Livelihoods Policies
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Reflections on Livelihoods Policies
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State as the LargestLivelihoods Pro
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Private Industry andServices—What
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Private Industry and Services—Wha
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Potential andPossibilities6.1. Intr
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Potential and Possibilities 139welf
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Potential and Possibilities 147infr
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Potential and Possibilities 149Saxe
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About the Editorsand ContributorsTh
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