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| Format: | Recurso digital |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14280198 |
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| _version_ | 1866902057644982272 |
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| author | Deepika Singh |
| author_facet | Deepika Singh |
| contents | <p>The discussions about working women often focus on the positive impact of women joining the workforce. However, it is important to recognise that women's participation in the workforce does not have the same empowering effect for everyone. For women from underprivileged backgrounds, the workplace can be exploitative, while for those from privileged backgrounds, it can be empowering. It is worth noting that the ability of privileged women and men to participate in the workforce is made possible by the underprivileged women who take on paid domestic work (Kothari, 1997). Paid domestic workers form a large part of the workforce in the unorganised sector. These women are among the most vulnerable and least protected groups. Despite being a significant part of the informal economy, paid domestic work is often invisibilised, perhaps because it is primarily performed by women and inside the domestic sphere. Since the private household is not considered a workspace by conventional norms and is not governed by several labour laws, paid domestic work is the most unregulated, informal, and unorganised labour, so paid domestic workers are highly vulnerable to exploitation, harassment, and extreme forms of abuse. Paid domestic work in India is characterised by a complex interplay of gender, caste, and class hierarchies. Historically, servants and enslaved people have performed domestic labour in India (Madhumathi, 2013). Domestic labour becoming waged work is a relatively recent phenomenon. Even today, domestic labour is not considered work, and the legacies of caste and slavery fundamentally structure the nature and practice of paid domestic work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic workers were among the most adversely affected groups. They suffered job loss, and many migrants had to return to their villages without a livelihood. They suffered</p> <p>poverty, increased stigmatisation, social exclusion, and discrimination. In the post-pandemic period, their conditions have still not improved much.</p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_14280198 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | India's Invisible Workforce: Precarious Condition of Paid Domestic Workers in India Deepika Singh <p>The discussions about working women often focus on the positive impact of women joining the workforce. However, it is important to recognise that women's participation in the workforce does not have the same empowering effect for everyone. For women from underprivileged backgrounds, the workplace can be exploitative, while for those from privileged backgrounds, it can be empowering. It is worth noting that the ability of privileged women and men to participate in the workforce is made possible by the underprivileged women who take on paid domestic work (Kothari, 1997). Paid domestic workers form a large part of the workforce in the unorganised sector. These women are among the most vulnerable and least protected groups. Despite being a significant part of the informal economy, paid domestic work is often invisibilised, perhaps because it is primarily performed by women and inside the domestic sphere. Since the private household is not considered a workspace by conventional norms and is not governed by several labour laws, paid domestic work is the most unregulated, informal, and unorganised labour, so paid domestic workers are highly vulnerable to exploitation, harassment, and extreme forms of abuse. Paid domestic work in India is characterised by a complex interplay of gender, caste, and class hierarchies. Historically, servants and enslaved people have performed domestic labour in India (Madhumathi, 2013). Domestic labour becoming waged work is a relatively recent phenomenon. Even today, domestic labour is not considered work, and the legacies of caste and slavery fundamentally structure the nature and practice of paid domestic work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic workers were among the most adversely affected groups. They suffered job loss, and many migrants had to return to their villages without a livelihood. They suffered</p> <p>poverty, increased stigmatisation, social exclusion, and discrimination. In the post-pandemic period, their conditions have still not improved much.</p> |
| title | India's Invisible Workforce: Precarious Condition of Paid Domestic Workers in India |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14280198 |