The document discusses domestic worker policy issues in India. It notes that domestic workers face inequality, including gender disparity, child labor, and lack of social benefits. The current policy aims to improve skills but has not addressed underlying issues like working conditions. Reforms are needed to focus on education to better protect domestic workers and address issues like low education rates, gender gaps in education, and child labor.
This is regarding India ,s economy growth condition .India is growing without adding Job .This phenomenon is called Jobless Growth .Government policies to mitigate the same
The high unemployment problem among educated youths in Zimbabwe: Lessons that...iosrjce
Research Question / Issue: The review focuses on discussing the methods, models and strategies used by other
countries to resolve the problem of unemployment among educated youths for the benefit of Zimbabwe which
has been grappling with the problem of unemployment since attaining independence in 1980. The review wishes
to answer the question: What are the strategies, methods or models that were applied by other countries to
resolve the problem of unemployment in general and of educated youths in particular?
Research Findings/ Insights: The review established that since the problem of unemployment of youths is a
global phenomenon, Zimbabwe has a lot to learn from other countries. It was proposed that the problem of
educated youth unemployment should be treated with urgency to the extent of it being elevated to the Office of
the President and Cabinet or other such measures which help to avoid bureaucracy in policy formulation and
implementation because the problem was now affecting millions in Zimbabwe.
It was noted by the review that exporting of skilled educated youths to other countries with shortages
was an option worth pursuing up until such a time that the Zimbabwean economy was able to absorb them. Such
a strategy would work best if centrally managed so that the country benefits from the rebates or taxes from such
labour exports in order to fund more local youths self-employment projects.
The review advised that natural resources such as land should be fully utilised so as to supply raw
materials to resuscitate the manufacturing industries. Export of finished products as opposed to export of cheap
raw materials should be made policy. Unproductive farmers who have neither passion nor skills should be
urbanised to work in manufacturing industries to unlock the valuable resource of land which they were holding
onto. This would make those with passion to get bigger tracts of land and to be bankable so that they mechanise
to achieve high production.
Zimbabwe should come up with investor friendly policies which are aimed at luring foreign and local
investors in order to raise industry capacity utilisation which was currently very low. This could involve making
difficult decisions and revising certain laws for the benefit of the unemployed educated youths in order to create
jobs.
RPD Bites is a monthly scan covering issues and trends surfaced in various local mainstream media sources that would be of relevance to the Malay/Muslim community. It is compiled by the Research and Planning Department (RPD) of Yayasan MENDAKI.
The key highlights are:
1) Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announces Budget 2019, which focuses on investing in a skilled workforce, building deep enterprise capabilities and strengthening the national social fabric.
2) NIE has developed a new guide “Supporting children in their transition to Primary 1: A guide for teachers and parents in Singapore”. Link to guide: http://bit.ly/fromK2toP1
3) Updates to the progressive wage model (PWM) for the landscape sector mean that workers will get a bonus and wage boost.
We hope that you find the information useful in assisting you in your efforts.
This is regarding India ,s economy growth condition .India is growing without adding Job .This phenomenon is called Jobless Growth .Government policies to mitigate the same
The high unemployment problem among educated youths in Zimbabwe: Lessons that...iosrjce
Research Question / Issue: The review focuses on discussing the methods, models and strategies used by other
countries to resolve the problem of unemployment among educated youths for the benefit of Zimbabwe which
has been grappling with the problem of unemployment since attaining independence in 1980. The review wishes
to answer the question: What are the strategies, methods or models that were applied by other countries to
resolve the problem of unemployment in general and of educated youths in particular?
Research Findings/ Insights: The review established that since the problem of unemployment of youths is a
global phenomenon, Zimbabwe has a lot to learn from other countries. It was proposed that the problem of
educated youth unemployment should be treated with urgency to the extent of it being elevated to the Office of
the President and Cabinet or other such measures which help to avoid bureaucracy in policy formulation and
implementation because the problem was now affecting millions in Zimbabwe.
It was noted by the review that exporting of skilled educated youths to other countries with shortages
was an option worth pursuing up until such a time that the Zimbabwean economy was able to absorb them. Such
a strategy would work best if centrally managed so that the country benefits from the rebates or taxes from such
labour exports in order to fund more local youths self-employment projects.
The review advised that natural resources such as land should be fully utilised so as to supply raw
materials to resuscitate the manufacturing industries. Export of finished products as opposed to export of cheap
raw materials should be made policy. Unproductive farmers who have neither passion nor skills should be
urbanised to work in manufacturing industries to unlock the valuable resource of land which they were holding
onto. This would make those with passion to get bigger tracts of land and to be bankable so that they mechanise
to achieve high production.
Zimbabwe should come up with investor friendly policies which are aimed at luring foreign and local
investors in order to raise industry capacity utilisation which was currently very low. This could involve making
difficult decisions and revising certain laws for the benefit of the unemployed educated youths in order to create
jobs.
RPD Bites is a monthly scan covering issues and trends surfaced in various local mainstream media sources that would be of relevance to the Malay/Muslim community. It is compiled by the Research and Planning Department (RPD) of Yayasan MENDAKI.
The key highlights are:
1) Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announces Budget 2019, which focuses on investing in a skilled workforce, building deep enterprise capabilities and strengthening the national social fabric.
2) NIE has developed a new guide “Supporting children in their transition to Primary 1: A guide for teachers and parents in Singapore”. Link to guide: http://bit.ly/fromK2toP1
3) Updates to the progressive wage model (PWM) for the landscape sector mean that workers will get a bonus and wage boost.
We hope that you find the information useful in assisting you in your efforts.
The economic prosperity of a nation depends on the quality of its workforce. The present study attempts to describe the work force participation rates in India. This study illustrates the spatial and temporal change in the work force participation of persons (males and females) in India, highlighting important differences due to sex, age, place of residence. A striking feature has been a rising trend in the rural female work force participation rates after liberalization (1991) but declining trend in the last decade (2011). This work force distribution also presents data regarding number of main and marginal workers. The time series data on work force distribution by category of workers like cultivators, agricultural laborers, workers in rural Household industries, etc. also presents a picture of structural change occurring in the economy. The temporal analysis of total workers of India explains that the work participation rate has registered continuous increase in the last three decades.
Study on the economic impact of employment small businesses loans under the f...ijmvsc
Job creation is undeniable importance of creating economic stability issue. Greater attention to the issue
of population can increase employment and general welfare of society in the development and reduction of
poverty and unemployment. Since one of the objectives of the Charity to empower patients, particularly in
economic stability and jobs and alleviate poverty and unemployment, employment and self-sufficiency in
agricultural and livestock projects of service. Given the importance of employment Charity projects,
particularly in agriculture, livestock and has served on the top of their agendas. The study was conducted
in the same relation to loans with the aim of stabilizing the economy and employment Impact on small
businesses covered by the family of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee Gilangharb city. The study of the
nature, quantity and type of research as applied to the data collection method - correlation. The
population consisted of 380 households Self-Sufficiency Project Joint Relief Committee of clients that have
reached the stage of self-reliance and financial independence. The sample size was determined using
Cochran's formula, 75 households were selected using stratified random sampling method. The results
showed that four variables' experience in the design, facilities and equipment required, and the extent of
participation by family members reinvestment " These variables had the greatest effect on the success of
agricultural self-sufficiency plans, clients are Gilangharb Relief city..
Women’s labour is a rich and valuable resource for a country as it can significantly boost growth prospects and improve socio-economic conditions as also ensure better outcomes for the next generation. Therefore, enhancing women participation in the labour force is a critical endeavour for driving overall social and sustainable development.
Despite positive growth and development parameters in the last 20-25 years, India has experienced a continuous decline in its female labour force participation rate (FLFPR). The total FLFPR declined sharply from 42.7% in 2004-05 to 31.2% in 2011-12 which further declined to 27.4% in 2015-2016. In 2013, International Labour Organization (ILO) ranked India’s FLFPR at 121 out of 130 countries, one of the lowest in the world. India also secured a poor rank in the Global Gender Gap Report 2017 by World Economic Forum, where it was ranked 108 out of 144 economies.
The largest drop in FLFPR took place in rural areas and was specifically prominent in the working age group of 20-44 years. This is a major factor that is responsible for pulling down the overall FLFPR. On the other hand, the urban FLFPR which has been historically lower than the rural FLFPR, has fluctuated.
Dr Ellina Samantroy's presentation at UNICEF Innocenti's Inception Scoping Workshop for Evidence on Educational Strategies to Address Child Labour in India & Bangladesh, held in New Delhi in November 2019.
This paper studies the determinants of personal income including the returns to education. In the process this paper estimates how incomes are affected by characteristics such as gender, caste, language etc. Using a maximum likelihood probability model, private returns to education are estimated using data from a Ministry of Finance Survey on Incomes and Savings conducted in 2004-05. We find that greater levels of education increase both the likelihood of being employed as well as the income earned from work. However, the returns from elementary (primary and middle) education are quite low. We also find that ceteris paribus women, lower social groups, rural residents, non-English speakers have both significantly lower incomes and significantly lower likelihood of being employed. Our results indicate that education should be geared towards ensuring flexibility in the students’ occupational choices.
Conclusion
Using a recently made available data on incomes we analyze how a range of household, individual and educational factors affects incomes. We find that the data for India show similar patterns as found for other countries, however the quantum differs. The key results are as follows:
Non-education characteristics
Individuals from SC and ST households are likely to have about 10 percent lower incomes than those from non-SC/ST households everything else remaining the same.
Women’s incomes are likely to be about a third lower than males having the same household and educational characteristics. They are also much more likely to be unemployed than males.
Those who are currently married are likely to have higher incomes and higher likelihood of being employed. Other results also indicate an interesting association between the marriage and labour markets.
Knowledge of the English language has a significant impact on incomes. Incomes of those who have knowledge of the language are between 18 to 22 percent higher depending upon whether they can merely understand or converse in it.
We also find that occupation effects are highly significant and explain a significant part of the income variations.
Education characteristics
Compared to illiterates those who have completed primary have 50% greater incomes, those who have completed middle school have incomes greater by 75%, those who have completed schooling have incomes greater by 172%, graduates by 278% and professional courses by 356%
After correcting for household and individual characteristics and state effects, compared to illiterates those who have completed primary have 31% greater incomes, those who have completed middle school by 45%, those who have completed schooling by 89%, graduates by 136% and professionals by 171%
After also including fixed occupation effects, compared to illiterates those who have completed primary have incomes greater by 15%, those who have completed middle school by 21%, those who have completed schooling by 42%, graduates by 69% and professional courses by 97%.
In other words, we find that the returns to greater education increase significantly as the level of education increases. This would be fine if the returns at the lowest level were high. However that is not the case and may be an important reason behind the high drop out rate. We also find evidence that there are significant rigidities in the labour market in the sense that household and occupational factors explain much of the variance in incomes. With greater education one may be able to break these rigidities, however, that requires children to remain in school.
For educational policy the message is quite clear: Quality of delivery, and content that enables flexibility in later occupational choice. This will ensure that rational children can expect to gain from the benefits of formal education, and therefore also remain in school longer.
The economic prosperity of a nation depends on the quality of its workforce. The present study attempts to describe the work force participation rates in India. This study illustrates the spatial and temporal change in the work force participation of persons (males and females) in India, highlighting important differences due to sex, age, place of residence. A striking feature has been a rising trend in the rural female work force participation rates after liberalization (1991) but declining trend in the last decade (2011). This work force distribution also presents data regarding number of main and marginal workers. The time series data on work force distribution by category of workers like cultivators, agricultural laborers, workers in rural Household industries, etc. also presents a picture of structural change occurring in the economy. The temporal analysis of total workers of India explains that the work participation rate has registered continuous increase in the last three decades.
Study on the economic impact of employment small businesses loans under the f...ijmvsc
Job creation is undeniable importance of creating economic stability issue. Greater attention to the issue
of population can increase employment and general welfare of society in the development and reduction of
poverty and unemployment. Since one of the objectives of the Charity to empower patients, particularly in
economic stability and jobs and alleviate poverty and unemployment, employment and self-sufficiency in
agricultural and livestock projects of service. Given the importance of employment Charity projects,
particularly in agriculture, livestock and has served on the top of their agendas. The study was conducted
in the same relation to loans with the aim of stabilizing the economy and employment Impact on small
businesses covered by the family of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee Gilangharb city. The study of the
nature, quantity and type of research as applied to the data collection method - correlation. The
population consisted of 380 households Self-Sufficiency Project Joint Relief Committee of clients that have
reached the stage of self-reliance and financial independence. The sample size was determined using
Cochran's formula, 75 households were selected using stratified random sampling method. The results
showed that four variables' experience in the design, facilities and equipment required, and the extent of
participation by family members reinvestment " These variables had the greatest effect on the success of
agricultural self-sufficiency plans, clients are Gilangharb Relief city..
Women’s labour is a rich and valuable resource for a country as it can significantly boost growth prospects and improve socio-economic conditions as also ensure better outcomes for the next generation. Therefore, enhancing women participation in the labour force is a critical endeavour for driving overall social and sustainable development.
Despite positive growth and development parameters in the last 20-25 years, India has experienced a continuous decline in its female labour force participation rate (FLFPR). The total FLFPR declined sharply from 42.7% in 2004-05 to 31.2% in 2011-12 which further declined to 27.4% in 2015-2016. In 2013, International Labour Organization (ILO) ranked India’s FLFPR at 121 out of 130 countries, one of the lowest in the world. India also secured a poor rank in the Global Gender Gap Report 2017 by World Economic Forum, where it was ranked 108 out of 144 economies.
The largest drop in FLFPR took place in rural areas and was specifically prominent in the working age group of 20-44 years. This is a major factor that is responsible for pulling down the overall FLFPR. On the other hand, the urban FLFPR which has been historically lower than the rural FLFPR, has fluctuated.
Dr Ellina Samantroy's presentation at UNICEF Innocenti's Inception Scoping Workshop for Evidence on Educational Strategies to Address Child Labour in India & Bangladesh, held in New Delhi in November 2019.
This paper studies the determinants of personal income including the returns to education. In the process this paper estimates how incomes are affected by characteristics such as gender, caste, language etc. Using a maximum likelihood probability model, private returns to education are estimated using data from a Ministry of Finance Survey on Incomes and Savings conducted in 2004-05. We find that greater levels of education increase both the likelihood of being employed as well as the income earned from work. However, the returns from elementary (primary and middle) education are quite low. We also find that ceteris paribus women, lower social groups, rural residents, non-English speakers have both significantly lower incomes and significantly lower likelihood of being employed. Our results indicate that education should be geared towards ensuring flexibility in the students’ occupational choices.
Conclusion
Using a recently made available data on incomes we analyze how a range of household, individual and educational factors affects incomes. We find that the data for India show similar patterns as found for other countries, however the quantum differs. The key results are as follows:
Non-education characteristics
Individuals from SC and ST households are likely to have about 10 percent lower incomes than those from non-SC/ST households everything else remaining the same.
Women’s incomes are likely to be about a third lower than males having the same household and educational characteristics. They are also much more likely to be unemployed than males.
Those who are currently married are likely to have higher incomes and higher likelihood of being employed. Other results also indicate an interesting association between the marriage and labour markets.
Knowledge of the English language has a significant impact on incomes. Incomes of those who have knowledge of the language are between 18 to 22 percent higher depending upon whether they can merely understand or converse in it.
We also find that occupation effects are highly significant and explain a significant part of the income variations.
Education characteristics
Compared to illiterates those who have completed primary have 50% greater incomes, those who have completed middle school have incomes greater by 75%, those who have completed schooling have incomes greater by 172%, graduates by 278% and professional courses by 356%
After correcting for household and individual characteristics and state effects, compared to illiterates those who have completed primary have 31% greater incomes, those who have completed middle school by 45%, those who have completed schooling by 89%, graduates by 136% and professionals by 171%
After also including fixed occupation effects, compared to illiterates those who have completed primary have incomes greater by 15%, those who have completed middle school by 21%, those who have completed schooling by 42%, graduates by 69% and professional courses by 97%.
In other words, we find that the returns to greater education increase significantly as the level of education increases. This would be fine if the returns at the lowest level were high. However that is not the case and may be an important reason behind the high drop out rate. We also find evidence that there are significant rigidities in the labour market in the sense that household and occupational factors explain much of the variance in incomes. With greater education one may be able to break these rigidities, however, that requires children to remain in school.
For educational policy the message is quite clear: Quality of delivery, and content that enables flexibility in later occupational choice. This will ensure that rational children can expect to gain from the benefits of formal education, and therefore also remain in school longer.
Running head INCOME INEQUALITY1INCOME INEQUALITY6A.docxcowinhelen
Running head: INCOME INEQUALITY 1
INCOME INEQUALITY 6
ADDRESSING INCOME INEQUALITY
(Author’s Name)
(Institutional Affiliation)
Addressing Income Inequality
For decades now, the wealth gap among United States citizens has increasingly become high. This has contributed to various social and economic problems such as inadequate employment, poverty, crime, and health issues (Dabla-Norris et al., 2015). Because of the wide array of challenges attributed to Income Inequality there is need for the society to come up with some solutions to address this issue. Even though there are many ways through which the society can narrow down this wealth gap, the policies chosen need to follow a multifaceted approach in order to come up with a permanent solution. Below are some of the policy alternatives that can be used to address the issue.Providing affordable, and quality education to the citizens
According to Breen & Chung (2015), education is one of the major factors that accounts for income inequality among the people. The people who are well educated are more likely to earn better incomes than the people who are not educated. This is due to the fact that educated people have some skills which they can use to acquire full time employment with good salaries. Because of this reason education is arguably one of the best tools that can be used to eradicate income inequality in United States.
Lack of education among some citizen in the United States is closely attributed to poverty. Statistics show that more than 1 out of every 5 children are living in poverty (Childfund, 2013). This means that a similar number of children don’t get good education because their parents can afford. Even if they access education it will likely be the basic primary and secondary education and they will never have the opportunity to get post-secondary education. Since most of the good jobs currently demand at least one to have post-secondary education it is important that we invest in providing access to affordable and quality education and encourage young people to go school.
To provide affordable, and quality education the government should:
· Build enough schools in all parts of the country that can accommodate everyone who needs education.
· Ensure that the schools have enough resources needed to provide quality education. This include qualified teachers and learning materials
· Subsidize the cost of education to ensure that the citizens can afford
· Provide scholarships to low-income students to help them access higher education in-order to acquire the skills needed to secure jobs in the competitive market.
Issues facing education in United States
One of the greatest issue currently facing education in the us is the criticism of public schools. This has consequently led to decrease of funding of the schools. As these are the schools which most of the low-class people can afford, most of the students end up not getting quality education because the schoo ...
Zulfiqar Ali's presentation at UNICEF Innocenti's Inception Scoping Workshop for Evidence on Educational Strategies to Address Child Labour in India & Bangladesh, held in New Delhi in November 2019.
Women's participation in the labour market is dependent on a number of factors. The policies and the budget has to be gender sensitive to create an enabling environment for the women workers. We need to shift from the gender neutral approach to the gender sensitive approach.by asking the right questions during budget preparation.
Policy Uses of Well-being and Sustainable Development Indicators in Latin Ame...StatsCommunications
Métricas que Marcan la Diferencia: Uso de los Indicadores de Bienestar y del Desarrollo Sostenible en América Latina y el Caribe/Metrics that Make a Difference: Policy Uses of Well-being and Sustainable Development Indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean, 23-24 October 2019, Bogotá, Colombia. More information at: www.oecd.org/statistics/lac-well-being-metrics.htm
Child labor is one of the issues receiving much attention from researchers and scholars around the world. Child labor still occurs in most countries around the world. Viet Nam is also one of the countries with relatively high child labor and increasing trend. This article is based on critical discourse analysis and data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam to analyze some fundamental issues of child labor in Vietnam, thereby giving policy suggestions to the Vietnam government in minimizing the current child labor situation.
Running head CHILD LABOR IN INDIA1CHILD LABOR IN INDIA10.docxjoellemurphey
Running head: CHILD LABOR IN INDIA1
CHILD LABOR IN INDIA10
Child Labor in India
Name of Student:
Name of Institution:
Date:
Abstract
The child labor situation in India is complex. It cannot be solved by enactment or with shortsighted solutions. It is driven mostly out of poverty and women having restricted decisions in matters of marriage or family planning. Frantic for money, and not able to nourish their families, they inescapably put their children in child labor. While the child labor case in India is complicated, it is an essential step headed toward more accepted kinds of industrialization. It is a fundamental stage through which pre-industrial societies need to pass before accomplishing a level of economic advancement. Child labor in India cannot vanish in worldwide workshops or with moving speeches. Unless suitable options get found through more meaningful educational frameworks, children will continue to wallow in poor working conditions and low wages while undertaking demeaning tasks.
Introduction
The International Labor Organization evaluates child labor in 1991, there were roughly 11.3 million child workers in India, with 2 million of them working in profoundly hazardous circumstances. Nonetheless, starting late 2000, the ILO states that there are currently 10.4 million child labourers in India. In India, reasons, why children are working include a lack of access to education and unemployed parents. Poverty is said to be the reason for child labour. However, it can likewise be a consequence of child labour as well. A cycle of poverty manifests itself within child labour, and India is not an exemption. Subsequently, this keeps children in India in a disadvantaged state because their access to education gets denied and thus, won't realize any new skills for a higher paying occupation.
In this research, I shall first define child labor and reasons for its existence. I will demonstrate theoretically how the child labor situation in India is a necessary phase through which it must pass to achieve industrial revolution like Britain and the U.S.A where many factory laborers were children and youth. I will also show how child labor is a detriment to the development of less economically developed countries. I will discuss the advantages and limitations, the economic effect, UNICEF’s role and solutions to the child labor problem in India.
What is child labor?
Work that undertaken by a child below the age of 18, it includes work that can interfere with his or her education, harmful to their health or physical, mental, spiritual and social development
Child labor envelops each non-school going child irrespective of whether the child gets involved with paid or non-paid work. Whether he or she is working to support a family or others; whether employed in perilous or non-perilous occupations; whether used on a daily or a contract basis or as a bonded laborer (Defining Child Labour, n.d)
Causes of Child labour i ...
Similar to Domestic Worker Policy in India FINAL (20)
Running head CHILD LABOR IN INDIA1CHILD LABOR IN INDIA10.docx
Domestic Worker Policy in India FINAL
1. 1
POL S/ Econ 409
Judy (Chu) Zhuang
Jennifer Noveck
Aug 20th, 2015
Domestic Worker Policy in India
Executive Summary
Domestic workers in India face prominent inequality issues including, gender
disparity, child labor, and low levels of social welfare benefits. Domestic workers are
marginalized in the sense that most domestic jobs are cooking, babysitting and running
errands (ILO, 2010, 1). Gender disparity is an ongoing issue with the ratio of male to
female as high as 83:17 (ILO, 2010, 21). While many children under the age of 15 are
employed as domestic worker, the working condition is stagnant and no legislation so far
has enacted to eliminate psychological and emotional abuse to child labor (ILO, 2010,
28). The Ministry of Labor and Education (MOLE) and government have legislated the
Skill Development for Domestic Workers. This policy aims to improve domestic
workers’ skill capacity in the labor market to enhance their living standards. However,
the effectiveness of the policy is constrained because it has not addressed the working
conditions for domestic workers in the long run. Therefore, I strongly urge the MOLE to
consider making changes to this current domestic workers’ policy.
Targeting at fixing the persistent flaws embedded in current domestic workers’
policy, this paper identifies three potential approaches for India government: reforming
education system, eliminating child labor, and increasing minimum wages. Each
approach has advantages and disadvantages depending on administration’s endeavors and
people’s participation rate. My first approach is education reform. India Government
2. 2
should provide incentives, obligations as well as financial aids for children to obtain
education from Grade K to 12. For poor households with lower status and less financial
resource to invest in children’s education, public funding and legislations on primary and
secondary education are urgently needed. The wide availability and increased quality of
education can be a sustained foundation for individual’s capability development as well
as for creativity and competitiveness. The second approach is eliminating child labor.
Child labor widens gender gap and creates detrimental consequences domestically and
internationally. Government should urge firms to comply and enhance codes of conduct.
To keep close eye on violations in contracts and fight against bribery or corruptions,
labor inspections and mandatory audits in labor-intensive sectors and firms by NGOs are
strongly recommended to increase transparency. The third approach is increasing
minimum wage. Minimum wages in India are still very low compared to other
developing countries and to the increasing living costs. Therefore, increase in minimum
wage would be a solid solution to provide sustainable living conditions for the low-
skilled workers and to reduce the significant inequality in labor income distribution.
Overall, after weighing the pros of cons, I propose policy changes to focus more
on education reform to protect domestic workers.
Overview and Background
India has exhibited unprecedented economic growth over the recent years. GDP
per capita has nearly tripled over the past decade, reaching 1262 USD (see Figure 1),
national poverty trend is heading downhill; average real wage increases annually, peaking
1$295 monthly manufacturing workers have a securer working environment. Though
1 World Bank Data (2010) See http://data.worldbank.org/country/india
3. 3
India has experienced positive outcomes on national scale, changes need to be made on
current policy to enhance domestic workers’ living standards.
Statement of purpose:
Stagnant improvements in domestic worker’s livelihood, low schooling rates,
society’s reluctance to recognize domestic workers’ visibility have highlighted why the
Ministry of Labor and Education in India needs to turn the focus around and make policy
changes. According to World Bank data, unemployment rate in India is 4.9%, while
youth unemployment rate as high as 12.9%; average wage rate is 4.83 INR/day, average
wage in manufacture is a bit higher but still no more than 6.25 INR/day (see Table 1).
Many of the domestic workers till this day are living in villages and slums where they
have limited access to transportation and markets (Roy, 2002, 2). They are still forced to
work long hours, sleeping on floors and face various threating and mistreats (Yee, 2014).
Poor living conditions show domestic workers’ social well-being hasn’t changed for the
better. These horrific treatments of domestic workers have not been fully recognized by
society or the MOLE. Education turns out a big problem for labor participation and
domestic labor market. Based on India census 2011, at national level, total adult literacy
rate is 74%, which means current education can hardly meet the demand of domestic
labor market. Besides the low percentage in education enrollment, gender gap in
education is significant, male literacy is 82%, while female literacy is just around 65%,
and as low as 52% in some state (See Table2).
What is currently being done?
India government and MOLE have currently enacted skill-development policy by
providing special job training programs to enhance national skill development strategies
4. 4
(Agnihotri, 2011,5). Government has decided to provide incentives, create opportunities
for diversified job training programs and make assessments in a timely manner. Specific
job training ranges from childcare to cooking, depending how much the skill sets have
increased, and domestic workers get paid on average approximately $41 per month (ILO,
2011). According to National Skill Development Policy (2009), government is also
making an effort to change distribution and patterns within the workforce. Such as “rise
in self-employment, greater sub-contracting, outsourcing, increasing worker to work
away.”
Issues:
While the Skill Development Policy by State government and MOLE provides
stability and flowing incomes to poor households and benefits female workers’ self-
esteem to certain extent, it magnifies the pre-existing issue of inequality. The remaining
problems that need to be put into agenda are drastic social welfare conditions, gender
discrimination and child labor.
Current policy neglected the importance of how education improves social
welfare. Higher level of education brings higher pay. Domestic workers earned 23.4%
less than workers who perform the same task elsewhere (ILO, 2010, 7). Current domestic
worker’s annual average wage ranges between 4200- 9600 Rupees while college
graduates earn up to 225,000 Rupees (WEIGO, 2008). The huge wage disparity occurs
because society preserves the perception they are “unproductive” workers and are
socially disadvantaged (ILO, 2010, 7). A major discrepancy in annual wage between
college graduates and domestic workers highlights the idea education can bring higher
wage and better livelihood.
5. 5
Current policy’s attempt to improve gender equality is weak. Despite the India
government has legislated many issues relates to women’s equal rights, like 44 Central
laws (Basu, 2009, 2), gender discrimination issues still persists. The reality that women
are still in a “subordinate position compared to men” (Basu, 2009, 1) is appalling. The
numbers of domestic workers in India range from 2.5 to 90 million, 3.5 million of which
are females (ILO, 2010, 14). The data from ILO (2010) shows the dramatic differences in
labor participation rate between male and female where the ratio is 68: 27. Women have
limited access to jobs in engineering, medicine and business (ILO, 2010, 8). Because
intuitively women are perceived as labor machines bounded with housework and
childcare and are emotionally unstable most times. Therefore they are less productive and
remain lower rank in the society compared to men.
Current policy fails to display promising results toward the issue of child labor.
The majority of child labor generates from domestic workforce and over 50% are under
the age of 15 (ILO, 2010, 29). Child labors have a higher flexibility to be sent elsewhere.
One is because they lack entitlement or any awareness to workers’ rights. Second is that
they are readily to be controlled by employers, and third is due to cheap labor costs. They
cannot get any safety or health insurance from employers; many child labors suffer from
hunger, inhumane working conditions and poor treatments. Low licensing from agencies,
low guarantee for timely payments, frequency of sex trade and debt bandage have
intensified the risk for child labor and made child labor the prime victims of illegal
activities.
NGOs’ perceptions:
6. 6
According to one domestic NGO, Maitri, the main goal of the policy was enabling
higher qualifications to translate into higher pay rather than education. Maitri believes the
program has established a close relationship between the female domestic workers and
micro financing institutions to promote job-training divisions (Sarkar, 2013). As a result,
there is a sharp increase in the participation rate of female domestic workers. Seemingly,
gender equality has improved. Villages and neighboring towns formed a “village
economy” (Roy, 2002) to freely deliver information. Therefore, domestic workers have
wider access to any updates relating to job-training programs and encourage more people
to participate. Maitri also witnessed that the training program focuses on “soft skills,
including communications, decision-making skills” (Sarkar, 2013). They advocated the
skill-development policy could secure a definite career path for domestic workers
through intensive soft skill trainings
Necessity for change:
Current policy fails to address the following severe problems in domestic labor
market: disparities in gender, unfair socioeconomic conditions and child labor. These
loopholes are impeding India to thrive and grow sustainably. Domestic workers are still
treated unequally and even regarded as “invisible” (Agnihotri, 2011,5). Also, with 2only
3.3% in GDP (less than many developed and developing countries) devoted to education,
India faces the obstacle for helping more people emerge from poverty and achieve a
sustainable economic growth. Therefore, there is a necessity to make changes in the
current policy.
Discussion
2 World Bank Data (2014) See http://data.worldbank.org/topic/education
7. 7
I propose three options to improve the well being of domestic workers in India by
enhancing government’s current skill development policy. The first option is education
reform through targeting children in poor areas in India. Domestic workers face serious
difficulties in finding alternative jobs due to their “lower-than–average formal education
or absence of economic opportunities” (ILO, 2010, 6). Education can provide diverse job
selections for domestic workers because high-skilled jobs require parallel level of
education. Higher education greatly reduces the likelihood of unnecessary physical and
emotional abuse. Studies shown despite employers perceive working conditions as safe, it
can be hazardous for domestic workers (National Domestic Worker Alliances, 2007, 6-7).
Out of 242 domestic workers, 194 have experienced certain degree of physical and verbal
abuse (National Domestic Worker Alliances, 2007,11). Compared to domestic workers
(80.2%), healthcare professionals face slightly 25% chance of physical abuse (Swahnberg
et al , 2009,3). Also, women reported to have higher abuse rate compared to men
(Swahnberg et al , 2009,1). This evidence indicates higher education reduces the risk of
physical abuse. India’s current education system has no learning value, poor
infrastructure and money (Swami, 2013). And household poverty is evidenced as the root
for low literacy rate (Kaur, 2013, 1) because lack of money indicates insufficient access
to educational resources.
To turn the situation around, government should provide incentives, legal
obligations and financial aids for poor households to keep their children in school.
Economically, government faces huge deficits due to lack of funding. Politically and
socially, perceptions weigh in the decision of the importance of education and determine
8. 8
the amount of effort putting in. For security reasons, due to poor infrastructure, the safety
of young children going to school is hard to be guaranteed.
Second option is to eliminate child labor. The crucial step is to launch legislated
federal law stating any entry of underage person, especially females, to firms is strictly
prohibited. Previously, the Child Labor Act in 1986 sort out to collect fines to firms when
they employ children (Basu, 2005, 2). However, the result backfired and led to a period
of increase in child labor. Due to low labor costs in children, firms were willing to pay
the fines and continued to hire children. Therefore, supervision from NGOs in labor
intensive divisions of firms is not negotiable. Firms should also have weekly board
meetings regarding the issues of hiring protocols where they will learn about the
obstacles ahead. Reports and weekly audits should be handed to the NGOs promptly.
Government must impose legal frameworks, like implementing legislative laws,
conducting interviews, to make adjustments to firms’ human resource department. The
main purpose is to prevent illegal trafficking and protect children from harm. Compared
to the first option, economically, governments experience less financial burden and firms
are taking responsibility to make compensations during compliances. Politically,
government empowers more regulations and has a bigger say in the matter. However,
trust disputes and alienation would merge among various parties. High risk of trafficking
and debt bondage is a persistent problem, which are hard to alternate in a short span of
time.
Third option is to increase minimum wage. This heightens domestic worker’s
visibility and increases their living standards. There are several reasons. First, increasing
in minimum wage gives people higher purchasing power, since demand for most
9. 9
necessity goods is fairly inelastic in price. Second, increase in minimum wage raise social
awareness toward domestic workers. They have competitive ground when it comes to
bargaining goods and have broader access to social welfare. Therefore, their visibility
increases. Economically, evidence has revealed that huge increase in minimum wage
would shift the market back to formal (Dinkelman and Ranchhod, 2012). However,
increase too much in minimum wage would clash the employment rate in the market due
to crowded out effect. Compared to the first option, economically, government faces
fewer burdens by the cost. However, political regimes can sway a lot in the decision-
making.
Recommendation
Taking into account the pros and cons of the three options, I suggest the
government to implement education reform. “Education for all”, is strongly
recommended (Kaur, 2013). Parents, especially in poor household, have the social
perception that children should not go to school and should rather work. However,
education “is not a thing which parents or relatives … should have it in their power to
withhold” (Baland, Robinson, 2000). Education proves to have long-term beneficial
effects and high returns for the child’s future development because it can effectively
realize child’s potential in creativity in the short run (Barnett, Ackerman, 2006, 86).
Education can drastically close literacy rate gaps between female and male,
reduces burdens in households and raises female awareness in their independency. With
low education standard, female are constantly facing subconscious pressure from the
workplace. Jobless women also bring the entire household in jeopardy through putting all
financial burdens on working male (Kaur, 2013, 2). Once females are educated, they can
10. 10
share the pressure of feeding the family by earning higher income, have more flexibility
in job choice (Raju, Phil, 2014; Hu, 2003), and a louder voice when treated unequally in
workplace (ILO, 2010, 49).
While education reform opens door for female domestic workers to compete fair
and square and improve their awareness on their legal entitlements, India’s legislation on
Minimum Wage Act seems to have less effect on “the extensive margin in terms of
employment opportunities”(Gudibande, Jacob, 2015). Education can take effect in the
long run to improve skill level and labor productivity, reduce gender gap in labor market
and mobilizing more families from poverty.
Eliminating child labor cannot raise the awareness of independency for domestic
workers. Because the detrimental effects on children is fairly deep rooted. Parents’
dominant control over children is another reason the second option won’t work. Chronic
and drastic poverty may induce parents to use their children as a source of income or
encourage them to join labor force at early age, rather than send children to school.
According to a study, parents are altruistic and child labor is socially inefficient, it may
arise in equilibrium because parents fail to fully internalize its negative effects (Baland,
Robinson, 2000). Consequently, child labor problem is hard to solve without education
reform, legal enforcement and poverty reduction.
Weakness in enforcement mechanisms also proves the other two options may not
work out as effectively as education reform. Compliances between NGOs and firms may
be poor due to weak enforcement mechanism (ILO, 2010, 49). Minimum wage has less
incentive to improve domestic worker’s living standards unless “accompanied by strong
enforcement mechanisms” (Gudibande, Jacob, 2015, 2).
11. 11
According to Sengupta (2008), the current education system for the poor in India
is appalling. Currently, India has insufficient teachers in rural regions and students of all
age group are cramped in a small classroom. Their manners are deformed and facilities
are ill equipped. Students have complained not having money for school materials. So I
strongly recommend government to put education reform on the top of policy agenda.
Providing better and equal primary and secondary education to different areas in the
country can not only produce next generation with higher skills and more creativity, but
also relieve household burden of dependency, increase labor productivity and labor
income, and reduce gender disparity.
Implementation
The education policy should focus implementing from the bottom to the top. Prior
to my recommendation, there have been trials on improving education standards for
domestic workers. The Government of India has taken several measures to hoist the
status of women in the society. Different plans and policies that have laid emphasis on
women empowerment and the participation rate of women in economic, education, health
and politics to match up with men (Raju, Phil, 2014). However, it is not specific enough.
Promoting enhancement in youth educational program, aiming Grade K to 12 for the poor
in India is the fundamental step. Public education should be legislated through federal
laws to add restrictions toward parents’ perceptions. Beyond that, endeavor from
government plays a vital step in the process of operating this policy.
Government’s enforcement can include signing contracts with parents, obliging parents
not to send kids to work. Government should provide material incentives to poor families
and thus establish trust among households. Such Incentives are majorly financial
12. 12
education aid, scholarships, tuition waiver or cut-down depending on academic
performances. Government can also offer free school bus service, free meal plan and
after school programs such as programming, literature clubs, dance, choir, exploration
club, independent study group for all age and social etiquette class. Lastly, government
should motivate students from 10th -12th grade to pursue global education through
providing distance online courses; international- group seminars because competitive
spirit and creativity create broaden the horizon for young individuals.
The major concern for government in implementing this policy is lack of funding.
To reduce the burden for government, funds should come from all channels, including
private sectors and public sectors. One specific approach could be at the end of every
school year; there would be district talent showcases. Its purpose is to raise funding.
Also, government can welcome private companies or institutions at home or abroad to
invest in primary or secondary education and take part in infrastructure construction.
Local governments should be fully alert on the damaging effect of nation’s low literacy
rate and the gender gap in the workforce. I trust the current Department of Labor and
Education are competent enough to take on the task. Since funding is the main obstacle,
hiring a budget advisor would be wise and effective.
13. 13
Appendices
Bibliography
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29-30.
Baland, J., & Robinson, J. (2000). Is Child Labor Inefficient? Journal of Political
Economy, 108(4), 663-679.
Basu, A. (2009) Harmful practices against women in India: An examination of
selected legislative responses. United Nations.
Basu, K. (2005). Child labor and the law: Notes on possible pathologies. Economics
Letters, 87(2), 169-174.
Barnett S. W. Ackerman D (2006) Costs, benefits, and long-term effects of early care
and education programs: Recommendations and cautions for community
developers, Journal of the Community Development Society, Vol. 37, No. 2,
Dinkelman T. Ranchhod V.(2012) Evidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an
Informal sector, domestic workers in South Africa, IDEAS
Edmonds, E. V., and Norbert S. 2012. "Poverty alleviation and child labor."
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 4(4): 100-124.
Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers. (2011). The Economist
(US), 399(8739), 73.
Gudibande R. & Jacob A. (2014). Minimum Wage Law for Domestic Workers : Impact
Evaluation of the Indian Experience
Retrieved from:
http://www.raduateinstitute.ch/files/live/sites/iheid/files/sites/cfd/shared/working%
14. 14
20papers/CFD2015_05.pdf
Hu L. J (2003), The hiring decisions and compensation structures of large firms
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 663-681
ILO (2010) Domestic Work policy Brief, Remuneration in domestic work,
Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/dgreports/---
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Kaslen, Stephan (2002) “Low Schooling for Girls, Slower Growth for All? Cross‐
Country Evidence on the Effect of Gender Inequality”, Education Economic
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Kaur, Ramandeep (2013) Low Female Literacy Rate and Its Impact on Our Society
Costs, Benefits, and Long-Term Effects of Early Care and Education Programs:
Recommendations and Cautions for Community Developers, Ministry of Labor,
National Policy on Skill Development (2009) Retrieved from the web
http://labour.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/NationalSkillDevelopmentPolicyMar
ILO (2010), Remuneration in Domestic work, ILO report
Retrieved from Web: http://in.one.un.org/page/rights-for-domesticworkers
National Domestic Worker Alliances (2007), the invisible and unregulated world of
domestic workers, Center for urban economic development
Retrieved from: www.domesticworkers.org
15. 15
Roy, T. (2002). Economic history and modern India: Redefining the link. Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 16(3), 109-130.
Sarkar, Radha, (2013) An Inside look at Domestic Workers in India Spotlight Maitri (Part
One), American India foundation. Retrieved from web:
http://aif.org/2013/09/an-inside-look-at-domestic-workers-in-india-spotlight-on-
maitri-part-one/
Sengupta (2008), Education Push Yields Little for India’s Poor, New York Times
Swahnberg K1. Hearn J. Wijma B.(2009) Prevalence of perceived experiences of
emotional, physical, sexual, and health care abuse in a Swedish male patient `
sample, US national library of medicine ;24(2):265-79.
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from: http://www.cciemagazine.in/uncategorized/the-present-education-system-
of-india/
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York Times.
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New York: Oxford Press
WEIGO (2008) Retrieved from :
www.unicef.org/infobychttp://wiego.org/sites/wiego.org/files/resources/files/dw_
background_note.pdf country/india_statistics)
16. 16
Tables and figure
Table 1: Labor Statistics of India
India Labour Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Unemployment Rate 4.90 5.20 9.40 4.90 perce
nt
[+]
Employed Persons 29650.00 28999.00 29650.00 17491.0
0
Thou
sand
[+]
Unemployed Persons 44.79 40.17 44.79 5.10 Milli
on
[+]
Population 1238.89 1223.58 1238.89 359.00 Milli
on
[+]
Retirement Age Women 60.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 [+]
Retirement Age Men 60.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 [+]
Labor Force Participation
Rate
52.50 50.90 52.90 50.90 perce
nt
[+]
Wages 4.83 5.07 5.47 3.12 INR/
Day
[+]
Wages In Manufacturing 6.25 6.55 6.97 3.92 INR/
Day
[+]
Youth Unemployment Rate 12.90 18.10 18.10 12.90 perce
nt
[+]
Data source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/indicators
World Bank Data (2014) Retrieved from :
http://data.worldbank.org/country/india
Table 2 Literacy rate Male and Female India 2011 Census
STATES/UT
TOTAL
LITERATE
S
MALE
LITERATE
S
FEMALE
LITERATE
S
TOTAL
LITERAC
Y RATE
MALE
LITERAC
Y RATE
FEMALE
LITERAC
Y RATE
INDIA 77,84,54,12
0
44,42,03,76
2
33,42,50,35
8
74.04 82.14 65.46
Jammu &
Kashmir
72,45,053 43,70,604 28,74,449 68.74 78.26 58.01
Himachal
Pradesh
51,04,506 27,91,542 23,12,964 83.78 90.83 76.60
Punjab 1,89,88,611 1,06,26,788 83,61,823 76.68 81.48 71.34
Chandigarh
#
8,09,653 4,68,166 3,41,487 86.43 90.54 81.38
Uttarakhand 69,97,433 39,30,174 30,67,259 79.63 88.33 70.70
Haryana 1,69,04,324 99,91,838 69,12,486 76.64 85.38 66.77
17. 17
NCT of
Delhi #
1,27,63,352 72,10,050 55,53,302 86.34 91.03 80.93
Rajasthan 3,89,70,500 2,41,84,782 1,47,85,718 67.06 80.51 52.66
Data source retrieved from :
http://indiafacts.in/india-census-2011/literacy-rate-india-2011/
Figure Figure 1. India Per capita GDP (2006-2014)
Data source retrieved from: www.TradingEconomics.com | World Bank