Women Construction Workers in Kerala – A Study of Thrissur City in Kerala State

Abstract

The informal sector has made a spectacular growth in India employing nearly ninety percent of the total employed workforce. A large proportion of socially and economically underprivileged sections of society are working in the unorganized sectors especially the construction sector. Though males are employed in construction sites as skilled and unskilled workers, women are mainly engaged as helpers and coolies supporting males in their job. The paper points out that with some personal and occupational problems for the women employed in the construction sector, the employment has brought in many changes in the lives of the women and has led to greater improvements in their socio economic status. It is also to be noted that women construction workers in Kerala are better placed than their counterparts in other states and have attained a greater degree of empowerment.