Marginal worker
Topic: Population of India: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition"
Meaning
A marginal worker is a Census term for a person who worked for less than 183 days (six months) in the reference year. Such people often do seasonal farm work, such as sowing or harvesting, and have little or no work for the rest of the year. Marginal and main workers together make up the total workforce. A large number of marginal workers points to underemployment, which means people want more work than they can find.
Example
A landless labourer in Odisha who works on paddy fields only at sowing and harvest time is a marginal worker. So is someone from Bolangir who leaves for a brick kiln for a few months a year.
Don't confuse with
- Main worker: a person who worked for 183 days or more in the reference year.
- Non-worker: a person who did no paid or productive work at all in the reference year.