50 jobs, 30 years: The unseen labour of an Indian female worker

A new book shines the spotlight on the invisible lives of India’s female home-based workers.

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She trimmed jeans threads, cooked savouries, shelled almonds and made tea strainers, door knobs, photo frames and toy guns. She also stitched school bags and did bead and jewellery work. Despite her hard work, she earned meagre wages, like 25 rupees (30 cents; 23 pence) for assembling 1,000 toy guns.

The protagonist of a new book, The Many Lives of Syeda X, by journalist Neha Dixit, Syeda relocated to Delhi with her family in the mid-1990s after religious riots in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh. Reported over 10 years with more than 900 interviews, the book highlights, in part, the precarious life of an Indian home-based female worker.

Ms Dixit’s book shines a spotlight on the invisible lives of India’s neglected female home-based workers. After being recognised officially as a distinct category of workers only in 2007, India defined a home-based worker as someone who produces goods or services for an employer from their own home or chosen premises, regardless of whether the employer provides equipment or materials.

Over 80% of working women in India are employed in the informal economy, with home-based work being the largest sector after agriculture. Yet, no legislation or policy supports these women.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ck7g9kjdrpmo

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