Social discrimination in the labour market
Topic: Employment, Unemployment and Informalisation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Sectors of the Indian Economy"
Meaning
Social discrimination in the labour market means that workers are treated unfairly because of their social group. In India, most workers from SC, ST and backward communities work in the unorganised sector. There they face irregular, low-paid work and social discrimination on top of it. This is why protecting unorganised workers serves both economic and social development.
Example
A rag picker from a Scheduled Caste community in a city earns an uncertain income each day. They have no social security. They may also be refused other work, or paid less, because of their caste.
Don't confuse with
- Gender wage gap: this is the difference between the average earnings of men and women. Social discrimination here is based on caste and community, although both are forms of unfair treatment at work.
Related concepts
- Casualisation of workforce
- Informalisation
- Informalisation of the organised sector
- Contract labour
- Informal employment
- Formal employment
- Formalisation of the economy
- Decent work