Decent Work And Home Based Women Workers

Description

Decent work comprises of four dimensions: work and employment, rights at work, social protection, and social dialogue; which are different from each other but complement each other too and contribute to the betterment of the lives of the millions of working people. The book aims to deconstruct the concept of decent work at the micro-level in the informal economy. The informal economy includes several occupations like construction work, domestic work, vendors, home-based workers (HBW), and many others. The home-based work category by virtue of its name home-based has a high concentration of women workers. As women can balance their family responsibilities and at the same time work and earn some money for their household expenditures. The book provides an understanding of the state of decent work in relation to home-based women workers.

The home-based women workers’ population is expanding and diversifying to include new and technology-based occupations too in its ambit. However, the core skills of this sector rest in the dexterity and nimbleness bestowed in the fingers of women HBW, with their hands they roll out beedis (indigenous cigarette), make kites, and roll out agarbattis (incense stick) and do the most intricateand complex of stitches. The book tries to highlight the serious deficits in terms of decent work for these women home-based workers. The presence and work of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) does to some extent give these women hope for a better future. However, many more efforts are needed if decent work is to become a reality for the women home-based workers in India.