ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

Determining the Underlying Dimensions of Economic Vulnerability of Women in the Unorganised Sector of Work: Factor Analysis of Muzaffarpur district.

The organized sector being the focus of the Indian women makes up a high percentage of the total workforce in India; however, they continue to face high levels of economic insecurity due to their constantly changing, temporary, often unstable employment status, poor working conditions as well as inadequate social security provisions. The current research paper attempts to determine the latent aspects of economic vulnerability of female workers who work in the unorganized sector of Muzaffarpur district. The study is based on the primary data obtained due to the use of the structured questionnaire that will be distributed among the female informal workers, who will be presented as the representatives of various branches of occupation. To define the latent pattern of economic vulnerability an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used. The review uncovered four major dimensions of economic insecurity affecting the women and they were the economic and employment insecurity; poor conditions of working and threats to work-related health conditions; constraints in social and gender facets; and unpredictability in jobs and salaries. All these dimensions suggest that economic vulnerability cannot be explained by one or two factors but is formed by the combination of the financial, occupational, and social backgrounds. The results support the assumption that there are numerous latent factors that determine the economic vulnerability of female unorganized workers. The article provides empirical data at the district level and it emphasizes the need to have combined and gender sensitive policy measures so that more women can improve their income security, work stability and social safety net in the unorganized sector.