How have hired workers fared? : a case study of women workers from an Indian village, 1977 to 1999
Download
Date
2001Author
Ramachandran, V. K.
Swaminathan, Madhura
Rawal, Vikas
Metadata
Show full item recordImpact
Abstract
This paper examines certain aspects of employment among women
workers in hired labour households, drawing on two surveys of
Gokilapuram, a village in south-west Tamil Nadu, India, conducted in
1977 and 1999. The study finds that, first, work participation rates among
women were high. Secondly, a woman was able to gain employment in
1999, on average, for only about six months a year. Thirdly, there was a
distinct shift between 1977 and 1999 in the composition of total
employment available to women Fourthly, while the real wage rate for
women at cash-paid, daily-rated crop operations rose significantly
between 1977 and 1999, the gender gap in wages widened.
JEL Classification: J2, J3, J11
Key words: women, agriculture, wages, work participation rate, Asia,
India