Disparities between social groups transcend the boundary of current generation and perpetuate across future generations as well. This is manifested as low intergenerational mobility in terms of both education and occupation in developing countries in general, and among specific ethnic groups within those countries in particular. This paper examines the extent of intergenerational mobility in both educational and occupational attainments for diverse social groups in India to understand the inertia of disparities prevalent. Results indicate strong intergenerational stickiness in both educational achievement and occupational distribution among the scheduled castes and tribes who have been discriminated against historically. Occupational mobility is lower than educational mobility indicating that educational progress is not being transformed to occupational improvement and bringing up the possibility of discrimination in the labour market. This also brings to the fore the fact that historical social exclusion has had a long-run effect and the inertia is quite strong.
A rise in female work participation in the urban sector creates a vacancy for care work at the household level and triggers a second round of job creation for females. In order to explore whether this process gives rise to decent employment for the female domestic workers (FDWs), a primary survey was conducted among domestic workers in the cities of Delhi, Noida, Kolkata and Asansol. The workers surveyed are, by and large, in low-wage, precarious employment, without social security and have an exhausting routine of work inside and outside the home. Apart from the lack of job security, sickness and disease also add to the uncertainty. Given the double burden of income-earning work and own domestic work, the FDW is crucially dependent on her health and strength, and often incurs health-related expenditure. But they contribute to their household income and have some autonomy in household decision-making. The informal working conditions for these workers, the need for social security and their low wage levels are all areas that need serious attention from policy-makers. Health insurance and pension plans would benefit the domestic workers, given that their work involves a requirement for robust health and the strength that youth brings with it.
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