IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS)

e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845.

PP 46-52
www.iosrjournals.org

A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in

Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli
Ms.N.Chitra,
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Srimad Andavan Arts and Science College (A) Tiruchirappalli
– 05, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: The process of globalization, export oriented industrialization and relocation of industries from the
developed to developing countries lead to increase in women workers in unorganized sector. The nature of
women’s work ranges from wage employment or self-employment, family labour and piece rated work. The
unorganized sector has no clear-cut employer-employee relationships and lacks most forms of social protection.
Having no fixed employer, these workers are casual, contractual, migrant, home based, own-account workers
who attempt to earn a living from whatever meager assets and skills they possess. Skilled and unskilled
construction workers work with low wages. They are working under unsecured environment or work culture.
They are migrating from different regions and states leaving their native villages in search of daily job and is
one of the main reasons for their extreme exploitation. Construction industry is the major source of employment
for workers in the unorganized sector. The aim of this study is to describe the problems faced by the women
construction workers in Trichy district. The present study is descriptive in nature. The universe of the present
study includes the population of women construction workers in hot spots. As the population is infinite, the
researcher had used the non-probability- convenient sampling method was adopted for collecting the sample.
The sample size of the present study is 50. The researcher used self-prepared questionnaire for collecting data
on demographical details. For the purpose of this research work, standardized tool on Problem Checklist for
Working Women by Vishwa Vijaya Singh (1997), to assess the problems of working women was used. The study
gives suggestions to improve the living conditions based on the findings.
Keywords: Women, Construction Workers, Unorganized Sector, Insecurity and Problems.

I. Introduction
National Commission on Labour (1966-69) has defined unorganized labours those who have not been
able to organize themselves in pursuit of common objectives on account of constraints like casual nature of
employment, ignorance and illiteracy, small and scattered size of establishments and position of power enjoyed
by employers because of nature of industry.[1]
The World Bank in its annual report in 1989 observed that 35 per cent of Indian households below the
poverty line were headed by women and in most cases, were exclusively dependent on female income. The
report observed that women’s contribution is significant in families with low economic status. The poorest
families thus depend on women’s economic productivity. [ 2]
Industrialization with the introduction of newly developed technologies plays an important role for
development of a country. Building construction is the basic of industrial developments. In India it is one of the
fastest growing industries with an annual growth of 10%. It has wide range of activities with employment of a
substantial number of workers. They are mainly working in informal/unorganised sector. In India about 340
million (92%) workers are in unorganized sector and about half of them are in construction industry. Security
measures are not being provided or adopted by them while working. They are being exploited by the
contractors. There is no specified time limit/frame of work for them. They had to work on an average for about 9
hours/day. Mostly they are migratory workers. At times, they are prone to injuries and accidents.

II. Problems Faced By Women Workforce in Unorganized Sector

Organized sector workers are distinguished by regular salaried jobs with well-defined terms and
conditions of employment, clear-cut rights and obligations and fairly comprehensive social security protection. [ ]
The process of globalization, export oriented industrialization and relocation of industries from the developed to
developing countries lead to increase in women workers in unorganized sector. The nature of women’s work
ranges from wage employment or self-employment, family labour and piece rated work. The prevalence of
women workers in urban unorganized sector is significant in number.[2]
The unorganized sector, on the other hand, has no such clear-cut employer-employee relationships and
lacks most forms of social protection. Having no fixed employer, these workers are casual, contractual, migrant,
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 A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli

home based, own-account workers who attempt to earn a living from whatever meager assets and skills they
possess. The unorganized sector is characterized by the presence of factors viz. long hours of work, wage
discrimination of men and women, lack of job security, no minimum wages, lack of minimum facilities at work
place, ill-treatment, heavy physical work and sexual exploitation etc. They are engaged in activities like
domestic work, construction work, small trades like brick making, coir and basket weaving, household
industries etc. In rural unorganized sector women are engaged in agricultural activities, animal husbandry, dairy,
fisheries etc. [3 ]

III. Women in Construction Industry

Construction industry is the major source of employment for workers in the unorganized sector. It
amounts to the second largest category and covers others allied field of activities in the civil, mechanical and
electrical area also. According the NSSO estimates, about 5.57 percentages of workers are engaged in building
and other construction works in 2004-05 (economic survey: 2007-08). The distribution of informal employment
as computed by NSSO employment-unemployment survey (2011-12) reveals that rural (99.92%) and (97.19%)
and urban (97.19%) female construction workers out number their male counterparts (rural male98.55% and
urban 92.17%). [2 ]
Nowadays, a large number of workers are engaged in the construction sector. Out of them
approximately 30% are women workers. The problems faced by the women workers in construction industry are
as follows – Low wages, Exploitation, Family issues, Illiteracy, Seasonal work, Nature of work, The neglect of
children, Unhygienic habits, The lack of social security, Gender discrimination, Ignorance of laws, Traditional
attitude, living in slum areas and Skin problems.[5 ]
Unlike the organized sector, there are not many legislations or programmes available for unorganized
sector. Apart from the agricultural sector, the only legislations available for other common unorganized workers
are 1.The unorganized sector workers social security, Act 2008 where various schemes on maternity, family
benefit and health policy are proposed and 2. The domestic workers social security Act, 2010 which insists on
providing better working conditions for women and children some of the other schemes which were promoted
by the government ended up as failures. [4]
In the state of Tamilnadu the only comprehensive legislation enacted for the welfare of unorganized
sector workers is Tamilnadu Manual Workers (Regulations of Employment and Conditions of Workers) who
could register under the board and avail the schemes, under this scheme, various assistances like accident, death
and funeral, disablement, marriage, maternity, children’s education, spectacle and pension are covered.

IV. Review of Literature

There are many scholars who have done research on women working in different sectors. However,
there are very few who have done research on problems of women workers in construction industry. Here is the
gist of their work.
Anand, (1998) analyzed the characteristics of the construction workers, predominantly migrant
workers and the intervention strategies adopted to facilitate the reach out services to these women workers along
with awareness of their rights and utilization. He suggested that NGOs and other organizations can play a vital
role through campaigning and active participation by creating awareness amongst these women workers and
unionism and cooperatives would yield results as far as struggle for better wages and working conditions are
concerned.
Rajasekhar D.,J.Y. Suchitra (2006) conducted a study on Employment Security for The Un-organised
Sector Workers in Karnataka. This study covered agriculture, construction and domestic workers of 4 districts of
Karnataka. The objective of this study was to examine the requirement of employment security in unorganized
sector and the problem faced by workers without employment security. It was found that inter and intra-sectoral
heterogeneity among these occupational groups was the main factor for the policies aiming at ensuring their
employment security. Results indicated that the same policy for all occupational groups of unorganized sector
would not work as different groups have different problems
Kumar M. Dileep (2012) conducted a study on Inimitable Issues of Construction Workers: Case Study.
Construction workers are available everywhere in all countries. The percentage of construction workers is more
in developing countries like India as employment intensity is much higher in lower income countries than higher
income ones. This study was conducted in 82 construction sites. Migrated construction workers faced some
major problems like poor health condition, arduous working life, harassment, inadequate and unequal wage
structure, long working hours, poor housing facilities, atrocities on women workers, lack of safety measures and
proper education for children of construction workers. The study stressed on the need to create awareness of all
labour rights and recommended proper intervention programme as well as proper implementation of labour law
for this sector.

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 A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli

Dave Vandana (2012) conducted a study on Women Workers in Unorganised Sector. The study
focused on female construction workers, agriculture workers and domestic workers. The objective of this study
was to know the socio-economic, working and living conditions of workers. The multistage stratified random
sampling technique was applied, data was collected from 350 female workers from urban and rural areas of 3
districts of Haryana namely Panipat, Kaithal and Kurukshetra. Workers faced problems like disparity in wages
where female workers were paid less. Working hours were not fixed and harassment at work place was
common.
Kalpanadevi, U.V.Kiran (2013) in their research paper titled ‘Status of Female Workers in
Construction Industry in India’ observes that Construction industry provides job opportunity to large number of
skilled as well as unskilled workforce. The workforces employed in the industry have to face several difficulties
at the work place. Several issues related to health, job stress, and injuries at work place are the major concern of
the research among researchers. They identify the key factors related to the status of female worker in the
industry. According to them, Women work as unskilled labour and face several other difficulties in comparison
to males. Sexual harassment, gender biasness, wage discrimination are the major factor due to which the
working environment becomes difficult for them in the industry and women remains at same level of skill even
after working few number of years.

V. Research Methodology
It includes nature of problem, research objectives, hypothesis, research design and methods of data collection,
etc
5.1. Problem Statement
Nowadays more rural and urban women were going for construction works. The reason for such shift
in occupation is reduced agricultural activities due to poor rainfall & cost hike. As the living cost in high to
make ends meet women choose alternative jobs. She has to overcome at home, workplace, health problem,
family problems, sexual harassment and social issues.
The researcher has noticed many construction workers in hotspots like, T.V.Kovil, Gandhi Market and
Woraiyur and near Tamilnadu police academy. These women seem to be in pressure to identifying the
availability of works, distance to be travelled to new workplace, insecurity about work and reaching home late
in evening. This influenced the researcher to do research about such women working in construction field. So,
the researcher wants to study the problems faced by the construction workers in areas of occupation, social,
family and personal aspects.

5.2. The study objectives are

 To find out the social-economic conditions of the women constructions workers.
 To study the problems faced by the women construction workers.
 To find out the association between the social-economic, occupational, personal and family aspects of
women constructions workers.
 To suggest measures to women construction workers to manage their situations.

5.3. Hypotheses
1. There is significant relation between the marital status of the respondents and the various dimension of
working women checklist.
2. There is a significant relation between the type of house of respondents and overall working women
checklist.
3. There is a significant relation between the age of the respondents and their level of family problem.
4. There is a significant correlations between the earning members in the respondent’ family.

5.4. Research Design and Method Of Data Collection

The present study is descriptive in nature which describes the problems faced by women construction
workers. The universe of the present study includes the women construction workers looking for job from hot
spots like Gandhi Market, Woraiyur and Marakadai. As the population is infinite, the researcher had used the
non-probability sampling and adopted convenient sampling method for collecting the sample. Fifty Women
construction workers were selected.
The researcher used self-prepared questionnaire for collecting data on demographical details. For the
purpose of this research work, Standardized tool on Problem Checklist for Working Women by Vishwa Vijaya
Singh (1997), to assess the problems of working women was used.
Primary data were collected from 50 respondents by using Problem Checklist for Working Women by
Vishwa Vijaya Singh (1997). Secondary data from related literature, previous study, concept related to problems

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 A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli

of working women form books, journals & websites were collected. The collected data analyzed using
percentage analysis for demographic details and statistical analysis were done to find the relationship,
association between the selected dependent and independent variables in the study. Interpretation based on data
analysis with a help of SPSS software was made.

VI. Results and Discussions

Table: 1 Sample Distribution of the Respondents
S. No. Factors Particulars No. of Respondents (n:50) Percentage
Up to 25 years 12 24.0
26-35 years 14 28.0
1. Age
36-45 years 14 28.0
Above 45 years 10 20.0
Married 31 62.0
2. Marital status Unmarried 8 16.0
Widowhood /separated 11 22.0
Primary 13 26.0
Middle 3 6.0
3. Education SSLC 13 26.0
Secondary 12 24.0
Illiterate 9 18.0
Hindu 35 70.0
4. Religion Christian 7 14.0
Muslim 8 16.0
Village 31 62.0
5. Residence area Town 12 24.0
City 7 14.0
Rs.3001-5000 2 4.0
6. Monthly income Rs.5001-7000 32 64.0
Rs.7001-9000 16 32.0
Nuclear 21 42.0
Family type Joint 24 48.0
7.
Alone 4 8.0
Extended 1 2.0
Two 3 6.0
Three 6 12.0
8. Family members Four 13 26.0
Five 14 28.0
More than 5 14 28.0
One 9 18.0
Two 33 66.0
9. Earning family members
Three 5 10.0
Four 3 6.0
Thatched 6 12.0
10 House type Tiled 21 42.0
Terraced 23 46.0
Rented 17 34.0
11 House owned
Own 33 66.0
Yes 22 44.0
12. Toilet facility
No 28 56.0
Yes 31 62.0
13 Water facility
No 19 38.0
14. Electricity facility Yes 50 100.0

The above table shows that each of 24% of the women respondents are of
26-35 and 36-45 years of group which means that economic conditions necessitates the respondents to continue
their job at this age. 62% of the respondents are married. More than half of the respondents’ education is up to
primary and secondary which shows that they did not give much importance to it. 70% of the respondents are
Hindu.62% of the respondents are living in village. 64% of the respondents’ salary is between Rs.5001-7000.
48% of the respondents’ family type is joint family. 28% of the respondents’ family consists of more than 5
members. 66% of the respondents’ family has two earning members. 42% of the respondents are residence in
terraced house. 66% of the respondents live in own house. 56% of the respondents have no toilet facility in their
home. 62% of the respondents’ have water facilities in their home. 100% responders’ home are electrified.

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 A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli

Table: 2 Distribution Of Respondents By The Level of Their Problem In Various Dimensions Of Problem
Checklist Of Working Women
No. of Respondents Percentage
S. No. Working Women Checklist And Its Dimension
(n: 39) (%)
Level of personal social problem
A Low level 28 56.0
High Level 22 44.0
Level of Family problem
B Low level 26 52.0
High Level 24 48.0
Level of Occupational and personal problem
C Low level 27 54.0
High Level 23 46.0
Level of overall Working women checklist
D Low level 28 56.0
High Level 22 44.0

The above table shows level of problem experienced by the women construction workers. The respondents’
level of problem with respect to family, social occupational and personal is low like 56%, 52% and 54%
respectively.

Table 3: One-Way Analysis of Variance Among Marital Status of The Respondents With Regard To Various
Dimensions of Problem Checklist of Working Women
S. No Marital Status Df SS MS X Statistical
Inference
A) Personal social problem
Between Groups G1=46.71 F=4.087
Within Groups 2 289.912 144.956 G2=42.38 P<0.05
47 1666.808 35.464 G3=41.36 Significant
B) Family problem G1=41.32 F=74.096
Between Groups 2 4878.325 2439.16 G2=13.63 P<0.01
Within Groups 47 1547.195 32.919 G3=35.64 Highly Significant
c) Occupational and personal
problem G1=42.58 F=3.407
Between Groups 2 141.351 70.676 G2=37.88 P<0.05
Within Groups 47 974.969 20.744 G3=41.36 Significant
d) Overall Working women G1=130.61 F=24.356
checklist 2 8773.145 4386.572 G2=93.88 P<0.01
Between Groups 47 8464.775 180.102 G3=118.36 Highly Significant
Within Groups
G1=Married G2=Unmarried G3=Widowhood/separated
There is significant relation between the marital status of the respondents and the overall problem checklist of
working women and its dimensions.

Table 4 One-Way Analysis Of Variance Among House Type Of The Respondents With Regard To Various
Dimensions Of Problem Checklist Of Working Women
S. No House type Df SS MS X Statistical
Inference
A) Personal social problem G1=45.83 F=0.690
Between Groups 2 55.779 27.890 G2=45.81 P>0.05
Within Groups 47 1900.9 40.446 G3=43.70 Not Significant
B) Family problem G1=26.33 F=5.244
Between Groups 2 1172.24 586.124 G2=40.71 P<0.01
Within Groups 47 5253.2 111.772 G3=33.43 Highly Significant
c) Occupational and personal G1=38.00 F=4.881
problem 2 192.001 96.001 G2=43.67 P<0.05
Between Groups 47 924.319 19.666 G3=40.57 Significant
Within Groups
d) Overall Working women G1=110.17 F=4.317
checklist 2 2674.9 1337.49 G2=130.19 P<0.05
Between Groups 47 144562.9 309.850 G3=117.70 Significant
Within Groups
G1=thatched G2=tiled G3=terraced

It is seen from the table above that there is a significant relation between the type of house of respondents and
the overall problem checklist of working women and its dimensions. Also there is no significant relation

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 A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli

between the type of house and the personal social problem checklist. There is significant relation between the
type of house and the family problem and occupational and personal problem of the respondents.

Table 5 Association between Age of the Respondents and Various Dimensions of Problem Checklist of Working
Women
S. No. Age Level of Working Statistical
women checklist Inference
Low High
1 Level of Personal social problem n:28 n:22 X2 = 1.927
Below 25 years 5 7 df = 3
26-35 years 9 5 P > 0.05
36-45 years 9 5 Not Significant
Above 45 years 5 5
2 Level of Family problem n:26 n:24 X2 =11.386
Below 25 years 8 4 df = 3
26-35 years 2 12 P < 0.05
36-45 years 10 4 Significant
Above 45 years 6 4
3 Level of Occupational and personal problem n:27 n:23 X2 =2.860
Below 25 years 8 4 df = 3
26-35 years 5 9 P > 0.05
36-45 years 8 6 Not Significant
Above 45 years 6 4
4 Level of Overall Working women checklist n:28 n:22 X2 = 3.347
Below 25 years 8 4 df = 3
26-35 years 5 9 P > 0.05
36-45 years 9 5 Not Significant
Above 45 years 6 4

The above table shows that there is significant association between the age of the respondents and their level of
family problem. There is no significant between the dimension like personal social problem, occupational
problem and personal problem and the age of the respondents.

Table: 6 Karl Pearson’s Co-Efficient of Correlation between the Respondents Total Earning Members in Family
and of Problem Checklist of Working Women
S. No Variables Correlation Values Statistical Inference
1 Total earning members in family and personal social -0.163 P>0.05
problem Not Significant
2 Total earning members in family and Family problem -0.410** P<0.01
Highly Significant
3 Total earning members in family and occupational and -0.301* P<0.05
personal problem Significant
4 Total earning members in family and overall -0.382** P<0.01
Highly Significant

The above table shows that there is negative correlations exist between the earning members in the respondent’
family. That is when the number of earning members in the family increases the family problem decreases.

VII. Findings
 Each of less than one fourth (24%) of the women respondents are of
26-35 and 36-45 years of group which means that economic conditions necessitates the respondents to
continue their job at this age.
 More than half (62%) of the respondents are married. More than half of the respondents’ education is up to
primary and secondary which shows that they did not give much importance to it.
 Majority (70%) of the respondents are Hindu. 62% of the respondents are living in village.
 More than half (64%) of the respondents’ salary is between Rs.5001-7000.
 Nearly half (48%) of the respondents’ family type is joint family.
 More than one fourth (28%) of the respondents’ family consists of more than 5 members.
 Less than one half (42%) of the respondents are residence in terraced house.
 More than half (66%) of the respondents live in own house.
 More than (56%) of the respondents have no toilet facility
 Most (66%) of the respondents’ family has two earning members.

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 A Descriptive Study on Problems of Women Workers in Construction Industry at Tiruchirappalli

There is significant relation between the marital status of the respondents and the overall problem checklist of
working women and its dimensions like family problem, occupational problem and personal problem. Research
hypothesis is accepted.
There is significant relation between the type of house of the respondents and the overall problem checklist of
working women and its dimensions like family problem, occupational problem and personal problem. Research
hypothesis is accepted.
There is no significant relation between the age of the respondents and the overall problem checklist of working
women and its dimensions like family problem, occupational problem and personal problem. Research
hypothesis is rejected.
There is negative correlations exist between the earning members in the respondents’ family. That is when the
number of earning members in the family increases the family problem decreases. Hence Research hypothesis is
accepted.

VIII. Suggestions
 The Government and the NGO’s has to motivate the rural population on ego friendly toilets and that usage.
Because most of rural form rural is do not have toilet in their home.
 Nationalist bank running self-employment training education has to must extend their services to rural area
to promote more women workers in unorganized sector in self-employment training programme.
 The unorganized welfare association must to organized general health camp twice in the year as the women
construction workers are in work 24X7.

Role of Social Worker

 Social Worker can educate the members of the family about the problems faced by the respondents in taking
upon in secured job in unorganized sector.
 The Social Worker can to register facilitate meant to form a welfare association through which secured jobs
can be ensure for women in construction work. The association can approach the builders for booking the
number of construction workers required.
 The Social Worker can lobby/ advocacy/liaisons with the Government transport corporation for bus service
exclusively for working women.

IX. Conclusion
Construction sector falls under unorganized sector of an economy. Unorganized laborers refer to those
workers who have not been able to organize themselves in pursuit of their common interest owing to certain
constraints like casual and uncertain nature of employment, ignorance and illiteracy, small and scattered size of
establishment. They are working under unsecured environment or work culture.
The scenario only can be changed with the government intervention, by implementing the policies
strictly. Strict action has to be taken against all those who harass the employees. It is very necessary to all
workers to know about Government Schemes. The status of the women only can be improved when major
transition in the society occurs and that can be achieved by mind set transition.
More research is required in this area to suggest solutions to existing problems and on issues like social security
and positive impact of unions and labour Acts on the workers.

References
[1] http://www.lexuniverse.com/employment-laws/india/Unorganised-Labour.html
[2] Dr. I. Satya sundaram, Plight of unorganized women workers in S.N Tripathy (Ed), ‘ Unorganized Women Labour in
India’, New Delhi, Discovery publishing house
[3] http://www.isidelhi.org.in/wl/article/2012-03.pdf
[4] Tripathy S.N. (1996) ‘ Women Labour in Construction Sector, A Study in Orissa’ in S.N Tripathy (Ed), ‘ Unorganized
Women Labour in India’, New Delhi, Discovery publishing house, pp: 92-98. 5.
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4063/13/13_chapter%208.pdf

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