An analysis of poverty among the informal workers of India

Abstract

This paper using 68th round National Sample Survey of India data on Employment and Unemployment for 2011-2012 wants to investigate the incidence of poverty, acuteness of poverty and their determinants among the informal workers of India. It is shown that percentage of poverty has been lowest among the self-employed workers and highest among the informal workers in the formal sector in the rural area, while in the urban area the result is just the opposite. Although percentage of poverty-stricken workers has been higher in the rural area compared to that of the urban, acuteness of poverty has been the other way round. The determining factors of incidence of poverty and acuteness of poverty among the informal workers are general educational qualification, social groups, and sectors. These determining factors can be considered as important policy variables to reduce the incidence and acuteness of poverty among the informal workers of India.

Keywords

• informal sector
• labour market
• poverty
• india