Labour Market Inequality in India over Three Decades
- Economic & Political Weekly
- 60(23), Jun 07, 2025: p.44-51
The evolution of labour market inequality in India is examined from 1987–88 to 2021–22, using a multi-tiered approach to labour markets, differentiating between self-employment and wage employment, and between formal, upper-tier and lower-tier informal jobs. Three-fourths of India’s workers are employed in lower-tier informal jobs, and this proportion remained relatively unchanged over the past three decades. An increase in the share of upper-tier informal jobs, primarily due to a rise in the share of upper-tier informal jobs in wage employment, is observed. The share of formal jobs in total employment has barely increased. Females and less-educated workers occupy the lower tier of the labour market. There are also large inequities in earnings for workers in the different tiers of the labour market. -Reproduced