Socio-Economic Conditions of Housemaids.pptx

Social Georaphy

1. Socio-Economic Conditions of Housemaids: A Pilot Study of the Four Administrative Wards in Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune, Maharashtra Virendra Nagarale 1 , Piyush Telang 2 , Bhaskar Igawe 3   1 Professor and Head, Dept. of Geography, SNDT Women's University, Pune Campus, Karve Road, Pune 411 038. 2 Research Associate, ICSSR MRP, Dept. of Geography, SNDT Women's University, Pune Campus. 3 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Lifelong Learning & Extension, Pune Sub-Centre, SNDT Women's University, Pune Campus.

2. Domestic workers are one of the most unprotected groups of the global workforce in informal employment who remain outside the ambit of social security and legal protection. Despite their significant contribution to the economy and society, they are often invisible and undervalued. Domestic work in India, as in the case of many other countries has a long history, evolved from a feudal system to the modern forms of domestic work relations. Economic changes leading to increased inequality marked by agrarian distress, indebtedness and rural–urban migration have encouraged the growth of paid domestic work, as it produced an affordable class of employers and a surplus of unskilled workers ( Neetha 2013 ). A significant portion of India's urban population relies on domestic servants on a daily basis. However, their classification as "workers" is only hypothetical in the absence of a national policy to acknowledge the particular nature of domestic employment. Migration, poverty, illiteracy, troubled domestic circumstances are forcing women to seek employment. Lack of education and requisite skills of employable nature leaves them with this livelihood option, which they are doing routinely in their own homes. Urbanization, changing family structure, educated women seeking employment and requiring someone to do household chores, all contribute to the increased demand for domestic workers worldwide. (ITUC, 2010) Introduction

3. Globally, 67 million people are employed as domestic workers and their quantity is rising daily. In 2010, the ILO estimated that 52.6 million people were engaged in this activity. The number of domestic employees, who are not counted as part of the labor force, will be very high. Official estimates of the number of domestic employees in India range from 4.2 million to more than 50 million according to unofficial estimates. After the advent of liberalization in 1991 the domestic workers in Indian homes have increased from 7.4 lakhs in 1991, 16.6 lakhs in 2001 to 39 lakhs in 2011, of which 26 lakhs of them are female. In 2009-2010 more than two-thirds of all domestic workers in India were employed in urban areas (ILO, 2010). A large number of domestic workers can be classified as “part-timers”—obviously from the point of view of the employer as such workers have to work in multiple houses to earn a living ( Neetha and Palriwala 2011). In India the States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have included domestic worker in the Scheduled Employment. The present study aims to assess the socio-economic conditions of female domestic workers and to see their distribution over a geographical area.

4. Data and Methods The present study uses cross-sectional method to assess the socio-economic conditions of the female domestic workers in the study area . The Questionnaire Survey Method is used to collect the primary data using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Apart from that the GPS locations are obtained at the time of survey (at the workplace or residence ). The secondary data is obtained from the various web-based resources such as published reports, research papers and articles etc. Other than that, the visits were made with a personnel of different Non-governmental organizations working for informal sector workers especially domestic workers . The collected primary data is tabulated and analyzed using MS-Excel. The other software packages i.e. Arc-map is used for the preparation of maps and other diagrams . The secondary data is used in the text at various stages. The GPS locations taken at the time of survey and the obtained locations (residence or workplace) from Google Maps are used to create the flow map of the housemaids.

5. Study Area Pune Cantonment Pune city is partly governed by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) which is divided into 15 administrative wards and those wards are maintained by some prime functional departments. PMC the largest Municipal civic body of the State in terms of total geographical area accounting approximately 518 Sq. Km. The administrative wing of Pune Municipal Corporation is located in Pune District in western region in Maharashtra state between 17 50’ North to 19 24’ North latitude and 73 19’ East to 75 10’ East longitudes. The city is located to the South-East of Mumbai at an elevation of 560 m above mean sea level. Pune is the eighth largest city in India and second in Maharashtra State in terms of population.

6. In 2011, total population of PMC is 3124458 as against 2374013 in 2001. The total population of PMC as in year 2018 is 3371626. Total SC and ST population is 452240 and 37630 respectively. In PMC, as of now, there are 564 slums, out of which 353 notified and the government does not notified 211 slums. It is estimated that there are 4 to 5 million employers of domestic workers of those major proportion of these workers are mainly found in large urban centres of the state of Maharashtra. Pune city alone comprises more than 1.5 to 2.4 lakhs domestic workers, considering the same it is estimated to have more than 50 thousand housemaids in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The rise in the service sector especially IT sector in the city has evolved the nature of the urban households and also their dependency on female domestic workers. Pune Cantonment

7. Observations and Results Age in Years Number of Responses % < 20 0.00 21-30 13 21.67 31-40 24 40.00 41-50 16 26.67 51-60 5 8.33 > 60 2 3.33 Total 60 100.00 Average Age = 39.1 Marital Status Number of Responses % Married 51 85.00 Unmarried 1 1.67 Divorcee 1 1.67 Widow 7 11.67 Total 60 100.00 Accommodation Number of Responses % Owned 37 61.67 Rented 23 38.33 Total 60 100.00 Duration of Work in Years Number of Responses % < 2 0.00 2-4 10 16.67 5-7 8 13.33 8-10 16 26.67 > 10 26 43.33 Total 60 100.00

8. Social Conditions Though the results shows that, mostly, the women are from the General social category. But, it is observed during the survey that, the respondent does not want to share their social category with the researchers and hence, the researchers have to guess their social category from the other related aspects which sometimes may not be true. The result shows that 70% women are involved in the domestic work as a part time workers. Very few (i.e. 04) women are living together with the employers family. It is also observed that those who are living with the employers family are mostly employed for the child and elderly care. Out of the total responses 29 women are employed for doing exclusively one work. It may be noted from the results that, about 45% of the respondents have employed for the washing utensils and clothes followed by cooking.

9. Social Conditions Out of the total responses, 31 women are having multiple work profile. Out of which, about 36% are Cleaning, Washing and Cooking, another 36% are employed for washing and Cooking etc. The level of education among the surveyed housemaids shows quit different picture. i.e. Most of the women are educated and the higher number of respondents have attained the education till High School level (8 th to 10 th Std.). It is realized from the conversation at the time of survey that, most of these women wanted to study further but, due to the marriage or family responsibility they couldn’t able to do so. Most interestingly, some of the respondents (Who have completed their Higher Secondary Education) are registered with the distance education programme . The travelling distance from the residence to the workplace is asked to the respondent to actually detect the locations of their residences and the workplace. The result shows that, about 25 women have to travel in between 2.1-4 km daily to reach their workplace. Very few i.e. 4 respondents travels more than 6km on a daily basis to reach their workplace. Travel Distance Number of Responses % Mode of Travel 0 - 2 22 36.67 20 (walk), 02 (own vehicle) 2.1 - 4 25 41.67 18 (walk), 03 (own vehicle), 01 (PCT), 02 (PVT), 01 (O) 4.1 - 6 9 15.00 05 (walk), 03 (PCT), 01 (PVT) >6 4 6.67 01 (walk), 01 (own vehicle), 01 (PCT), 01 (PVT) Total 60 100  

10. Social Conditions   Migration Category     Reason for Migration           Other than Maharashtra Rural to Urban Urban to Urban Employment Marriage Education Calamity NR Migrants (41) 2 38 1 23 15 1 1 1 Natives (19)                 Out of the total respondents, 41 women are migrated from their original places. Most of the migration is seems to occurred from Rural to Urban area within the State. The migrants from the other States are only 02 in the collected sample whom are living in Pune from last 10 years or more. The primary reason of migration is employment which account about 23 responses (56%) followed by marriage.

11. Economic Conditions The results show that, 50% of the total respondents have their monthly income below Rupees 5000, whereas about 88% of the respondents earns less than Rupees 9000 per month. Of the total respondents, 70% are doing part time work in multiple household. One of the thing that came out of the discussion with the respondents during survey, they have to work in multiple households because the wages for their work in limited which cannot fulfill their family needs. Most of the housemaids are working in 2-3 households on a daily basis.

12. Economic Conditions Other Income Sources Number of Responses Number of Responses Yes 28 46.67 No 32 53.33 Total 60 100 Out of the total responses, 32 women don’t have any other source of income except their work. However, 28 of them are getting economic support from various sources. Out of 28 respondent who have other income sources to support their family are having financial support from their family members (mostly those are working in informal sector only) which account 50%, following that many of them are earning from the other activities. The other activities include, sewing, making jewelry, making food products as per the requirement etc. Other than that, about 5 respondents have the financial support from their spouse pension (Most of them were employed in the Class-IV Govt. Services). Two respondents are getting the financial support from the Govt. schemes i.e. Widow Pension Scheme.

13. Conclusion Most Indian studies have similar findings as ours about age, marital and education status though international studies report lower age range, better education and more single women employed as domestic workers . Older studies quoted more illiteracy among the housemaids. But, the results from our study shows different picture. The housemaids are mostly educated and some are also enrolled in distance education to get good job opportunities. But this is not sufficient to guarantee good job opportunities. We saw most take up employment as domestic worker after marriage or migration to boost their household economy. Rarely females with better educational qualifications seek employment as domestic workers as an easier way to earn good wages. Comparatively higher socio-economic class in our study can be attributed to the other income sources i.e. multiple earning members in some families. Some had agricultural land at native place as a secondary income source. Poor socio-economic and housing conditions have been highlighted in some studies. We found that, most of these women are living in slums those are notified by the government. Hence, these slums have facilities like community toilets, electricity and tap water supply but still having some unhygienic sanitation practices. The findings of our study have revealed that although the domestic work sector is informal or unorganized, the working and living conditions are not as pitiful as previous studies have depicted. Empowering domestic workers by bringing the work sector under formal or organized sector and thus making them all eligible for social security like healthcare benefits, minimum wages act, and maternity benefit is the need of the hour. Some states have initiated this but it should extend countrywide. Fixed daily work hours and leave pattern will benefit employee and employer. Also providing them with official identity cards, drawing up employment contracts would be a good step to ensure recognition of their contribution to the nation's economy.

14. Neetha , N. 2013. Paid domestic work: making sense of the Jigsaw puzzle. Economic and Political Weekly, Review of Women Studies XLVIII(43). Neetha , N., and R. Palriwala . 2011. The absence of state law: domestic workers in India. Canadian Journal of Women and Law, Special Issue on Decent Work for Domestic Workers 23 (1): 97–119. ILO. 2010. Decent work for domestic workessrs , Report IV (I), International Labour Conference, 99th session. Geneva: ILO. ILO (International Labour Organisation ). 2013. Domestic workers across the world: global and regional statistics and extent of legal protection . Geneva: ILO. ILO. 2017. Persisting servitude and gradual shifts towards recognition and dignity of labour a study of employers of domestic workers in Delhi and Mumbai. file:///C:/Users/Neetha%20N/Desktop/ wcms_622812.pdf. Accessed 25 August 2022. Decent work, decent life for domestic workers. ITUC International Trade Union Confederation Guide November 2010. Available from: https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/ITUC_dwd_AnglaisWEB.pdf . [ Last accessed on 2018 Oct]. References

15. Acknowledgement This research paper is based on the Major Research Project entitled " Mapping an Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Employment Status with Special Reference to Housemaids: A Comparative Study of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), Maharashtra. ". The project is sponsored by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. Authors kindly acknowledge ICSSR, New Delhi for the financial support. Thank You…