The India Employment Report (IER) 2024 by the Institute for Human Development and International Labour Organization poses questions on the trickle-down effect of benefits to the working class in the backdrop of a 5.4% average real economic growth, from 2015-16 to 2022-23. It also shows a divergent trend between rural and urban areas in terms of employment and income. It demonstrates a relatively higher unemployment rate in urban areas, at 4.8% in 2000 over the 1.5% in rural areas. However, average monthly earnings are higher by 76% for self-employed, 44% for regular employed and 22% for casual labour in urban areas in 2022. The coexistence of higher unemployment and wages requires further investigation to understand its implications for the urban poor. This article looks at the dynamics of employment and wages in pockets of deep urban poverty, such as slums, and juxtaposes these with the findings of the IER 2024.
The higher income in urban areas and a better life have prompted rural-urban migration in the past. As in the IER 2024, although overall migration has increased, the migration of males has declined by 1.2% during 2000-08, and further marginally in 2021. This implies that migration for economic mobility is losing its sheen. Rural poor households migrate to slums instead of formal settlements. Hence, an analysis of income and employment trends of slum dwellers would reveal the prospects of economic mobility and decent work for the poor in urban India.
