Project's title: Levels, Trends and Structure of Workforce in India, 1981-2001: A Comparative Study of Pre and Post Reform Period.

Progress statement: The above project is based on census data of 1981, 1991 and 2001. The study analyses work force data at the state and district levels. The following are the major indicators calculated for the period 1981 to 2001.

• Work participation rates for total, main and marginal workers by sex and residence (both urban and rural areas separately);
• Growth rate of total, main and marginal workers by rural and urban areas by sex;
• Percentage of workers in non-agricultural sector for both main workers and marginal workers by residence and sex;
• Age composition of workers (main and marginal workers) by residence and sex;
• Educational levels of workers (main and marginal).

The project is in the final stage. The major findings emerging from the analysis of data so far are as follows.

Findings:

• Work participation rate (WPR) was 36.7 per cent in 1981, which increased slightly to 37.4 per cent in 1991 and to 39.2 per cent in 2001. However, when we look at the WPR for main workers only (those who get work for more than 183 days), we find that the rate has virtually declined from 1991 to 2001 compared to 1981 to 1991. On the other hand, there is a very high growth rate among marginal workers during the 1990s. Thus, the growth in the total workers is largely contributed by higher growth of marginal workers (those who get job less than 183 days during the 1990s). This shows greater casualisation of work force, and rapid decline in the regular jobs during 1990s.
• Decline in growth rates among both male and female main workers has been spectacular in rural areas, whereas in urban areas decline was more substantial among main male workers. On the other hand, growth rate of female workers has been steady from 1981-91 to 1991-2001. It seems that liberalization of the economy during 1990s has provided more job opportunities for the females than males in urban areas.
• Disparities in between male and female WPRs are declining in both rural and urban areas in recent times.
• The share of workers in non-agricultural sector has increased remarkably from nearly one third of the workforce in eighties to two-fifth in the 1990s. This shows that sectoral transformation of the workforce towards non-agricultural activities has been rapid during the phase of liberalization and privatization of Indian economy during the last decade.
• With respect to the age composition of workers, we find that around two-fifth of both male and female workers were child labour (age group 0-14) in 1981. However, this share has declined significantly in 1991 among both male and female workers. And it has further dramatically declined in 2001. Thus the child labour according to 2001 census constitutes only less than 5 per cent of the total workforce. This has also resulted in a noticeable increase in the share of workers in the age group 15-59 and 60+.
• Increasing decline in the share of illiterate workers both among male and female workers has been a noteworthy feature in the consecutive censuses.
• It is interesting to find that male marginal workers have higher percentage of literacy compared to male main workers. Probably due to more male marginal workers are engaged in study and training. However, this is not true for female workers.