Women and social security

Abstract

India, a country that has already earned the epithet of ‘emerging economy’ based on ‘growth’ statistics, manifests this contradiction most poignantly. Traditional means of livelihood are vanishing, increasingly becoming unfeasible or are simply being snatched away. Work is moving from the formal to the informal sector. Those living in poverty are everywhere increasingly working in hazardous and precarious conditions, for longer hours. Yet they have incomes that are barely enough to meet their survival needs, let alone enable them to cope with any contingencies. The traditional social support systems are fast vanishing with nothing new being created to replace it.