Work

Heat causes large earnings losses for informal-sector workers in India

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Heat reduces labor productivity and output in formal manufacturing but little is known about its impacts on the earnings and welfare of workers in the informal sector that comprise 82% of the labor force in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. This study reports the results from daily surveys of nearly 400 workers in two slums in Delhi for a month in the summer of 2019. Every degree Celsius increase in wet bulb temperature was associated with a fall in gross earnings of 13 ( ± 3.5 ) percentage points, a fall in earnings net of work-related expenditure of 19 ( ± 4.5 ) percentage points, an increase in the self-reported probability of sickness of the worker or a family member of 6 ( ± 0.5 ) percentage points, and a decrease in the probability that a worker went to work of 2 ( ± 0.5 ) percentage points. Net earnings were 40% lower during the two heatwaves that occurred during the study period. Over 320 million informal-sector workers in low-income and lower-middle-income countries are currently exposed to temperatures similar to those observed in this study.

Source: Environmental Research Letters

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad7da4

Authors: Saudamini Das, E Somanathan

Institutions: Institute of Economic Growth, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Centre, Indian Statistical Institute

Language: English

Topic: Climate Change and Health Impacts

Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,820