Labour force participation of women and children in rural Tamil Nadu: An analysis of the inter district variability

Abstract

In India, as per census 1981, around 11 million children in the age group 5-14 are in the

 labour force as main workers, and another 2.21 million children participate in the labour market

 as marginal workers. The National Sample Survey (NSS), estimates that in 1983 over 15 million

 children are workers by principal status; including subsidiary status workers, the number of child

 labourers is over 20 million. The distribution of child labourers by location, furnished In Table 1,

 indicates that more than 88 per cent of the labour market participants in the age group 5-14 are

 in the rural area. Tamil Nadu accounts for a little over 8 per cent of the main workers, and 5.74

per cent of the total workers in the age group 5-14 in the country.