The Changing Faces of Women Labour in Assam

Women labour is an important segment of the workforce of India. With the changing socio-economic scenario, women’s productive roles have assumed new dimensions. In India the labour force participation rate of women is 31.56 per cent, less than half of that of men at 68.44 per cent. The study has observed that apart from their household work, women take up various works outside their house such as working as domestic helpers in households, as agricultural labourers in the field, tea garden labourers, workers in construction of roads and buildings, etc. It has been observed that the wages (Rs.71.50/per day) and the hours of work (8) in the case 18 years and above women labourers vary with their age groups, especially among the tea garden labourers. It has been found that the women workers face many problems in carrying out their work, which include low wage, lack of minimum facilities during work hours, ill treatment on the part of the employers, etc.