Abstract
Women constitute an overwhelming
share of India's informal workforce, yet the socio-economic circumstances that
draw women into informal work, and the returns they obtain from it, remain
insufficiently examined at the district level (International Labour
Organization [ILO], 2018; Chen, 2012). The present study investigates the
socio-economic determinants of women's participation in the informal labour
market in Gwalior district, Madhya Pradesh. Employing a
descriptive-cum-analytical design, data were collected from 420 women aged
18–60 years, selected through multi-stage stratified random sampling from urban
Gwalior city, semi-urban towns, and rural villages of the district. A
structured interview schedule recorded socio-demographic characteristics,
household economic circumstances, labour market participation, sector of
informal work, monthly earnings, and a ten-item household decision-making
autonomy scale. Six hypotheses were tested using the chi-square test,
independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and binary
logistic regression. Overall, 278 women (66.2 per cent) participated in the
informal labour market. Participation was significantly associated with area of
residence (χ² = 20.61, p < .001) and educational level (χ² = 18.80, p =
.001). Participants belonged to households with significantly lower
other-member income (t = −3.47, p = .001), confirming the distress-driven
character of participation, yet recorded significantly higher decision-making
autonomy (t = 8.12, p < .001). Monthly earnings differed significantly
across the four informal sectors (F = 57.41, p < .001), with construction
and casual labour paying the most and home-based piece-rate work the least.
Years of schooling showed no significant correlation with earnings among
informal workers (r = −.01, p = .880), indicating that the informal labour
market does not reward education. Logistic regression confirmed rural
residence, widowhood or marital disruption, low household income, and low
schooling as significant determinants of participation. The study concludes
that women's informal work in Gwalior is primarily necessity-driven and
unremunerative of human capital, yet carries measurable empowerment effects,
and it recommends sector-specific social protection under the e-Shram
framework.