Personal services
Topic: Tertiary, Quaternary and Quinary Activities · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 6 "Tertiary and Quaternary Activities"
Meaning
Personal services are services that help people in their daily lives at home. Housekeepers, cooks and gardeners provide them. These workers are usually unskilled people who have migrated (moved) from rural areas to cities in search of work. They mostly work in the unorganised sector, meaning without formal contracts, fixed wages or job security. Their work lets busy city households run smoothly.
Example
In Mumbai, many homes employ cooks and housekeepers who came from villages in other states. The city's dabbawalas, who carry home-cooked lunch boxes to offices, are another personal service in the unorganised sector.
Don't confuse with
- Professional services: these need specialised training, as doctors, engineers and lawyers have, and are paid through fees. Personal services usually need little formal training.