Occupational Health, Unpaid Care Work and Livelihood Insecurity among Women Beedi Workers in Telangana: A Gender-Based Analysis

Women's participation in informal employment is shaped by occupational conditions and unequal responsibilities for unpaid domestic and care work. Women engaged in home-based beedi rolling combine income-generating activities with household responsibilities, potentially affecting their health, earning capacity and opportunities for occupational mobility. This paper examines these interconnected dimensions using published secondary evidence from the V. V. Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI) study of women beedi workers in Telangana. The underlying survey covered 400 women in selected villages of Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Nirmal districts. Published findings indicate that 99.5 per cent participated in unpaid domestic services, with an average reported time of 292 minutes; employment-related activities accounted for an average of 581 minutes. Self-reported complaints included lower back pain (27.5 per cent), body and hand aches (27.0 per cent) and numbness of fingers (18.0 per cent). The paper interprets these findings through a gender-economics and livelihood-security framework. It argues that employment participation alone is an incomplete measure of empowerment: occupational healthcare, recognition of unpaid work, suitable working arrangements and accessible livelihood opportunities are also required. As the analysis uses published aggregate data, it does not establish causal relationships or clinical diagnoses.