Marginal worker
Topic: Employment, Unemployment and Informalisation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Presentation of Data"
Meaning
A marginal worker is a Census category. It is a person who did some economic work in the reference year, but for less than 183 days (six months). Such people usually have seasonal or occasional work. A large number of marginal workers points to irregular and insecure work.
Example
A rural woman who works as a farm labourer for 90 days during sowing and harvest, and has no other economic work, is a marginal worker.
Don't confuse with
- Main worker: worked for 183 days or more in the year.
- Non-worker: did no economic work at all in the year.
Related concepts
- Labour force
- Not in labour force
- Discouraged workers
- Labour force participation rate
- Worker population ratio
- Unemployment rate
- Usual status
- Principal status
- Subsidiary status
- Current weekly status