Estimation of Women Beedi Workers in India and Their Socio-economic Condition

Jagannath Mallick () and Sachi Satpathy
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Jagannath Mallick: State Bank of India
Sachi Satpathy: AF Development Care (AFDC)

The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 2021, vol. 64, issue 2, No 12, 499-521

Abstract: Abstract Women workers continue in the beedi industry due to the unavailability of alternative livelihoods though they are vulnerable and exploited. This remains a poorly understood field of research due to the unavailability of reliable data, which is an obstacle to the effective implementation of various policies and schemes. Even, the number of beedi worker reported by the Ministry of Labour and Employment contains significant discrepancies. These data show that the registered beedi workers have increased in India with a significant decline in the Southern States in the last two decades. We estimate the women beedi employees at the state and district levels and also assess their socio-economic status. We find that the number of women beedi workers in the registered firms has increased in India including the Southern States, and about 80% of beedi workers are women and mainly living in the rural areas. Further, we find that while West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have the highest number of beedi workers, the highest share of women in the total beedi workforce is found in Andhra Pradesh (95%), Karnataka (91%), and Tamil Nadu (84%). The majority of women beedi workers are illiterate with a lower wage than men’s. The minority mainly Christian followers are significant compared to their population share, and the OBC category is significant among the women beedi workers. More than 90% of the women beedi rollers do not have written job contracts and are not eligible for paid leaves or social security.

Keywords: Tobacco; Poverty; Beedi workers; Informal sector; Home-based work; Household analysis; Vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I3 J5 J7 L66 R2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1007/s41027-021-00320-2

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