EMPLOYMENT STRATEGIES IN WAGE DEPENDENT HOUSEHOLDS 23
only members of households of the lower castes or those in dire economic conditions participate in wage work.
In this paper we shall try to identify the employment strategies adopted by such wage dependent households in order to meet their basic needs over a period of time and in comparison with other households. The relative dependence of males and females on wage labour is studied here as one of the strategies adopted by such households in the changing agricultural and technological scenario. Before we analyse the data at the micro level, we shall identify the trends in work participation of males and females at the state level to provide a broader perspective to analyse household level information.
This paper is divided into three sections. The first section analyses the broad trends in labour participation and in the status distribution of the work force in rural areas between 1961 and 1983 at the state level. Changes in the employment and incomes of wage-labour households over the period 1964-65 to 1977-78 for the fourteen major states of the country are analysed in section two. The employment strategies adopted at the household level by wage dependent households in a developed and a backward region of Gujarat in 1984-85 are analysed in section three.
TRENDS IN WORK FORCE PARTICIPATION AND CASUALISATION IN RURAL AREAS
The census of India gives us a time series of data on the level and structure of employment. However, frequent changes in the definitions and concepts have made the data non-comparable over time. The 1961 Census is considered to have provided a reasonably good inventory of the work force. The 1961 Census also had a relatively better count of female workers, which was not achieved by the 1971 or 1981 Census. When there is an undercount of workers, data on industrial, occupational or status distribution of workers cannot be compared with any confidence since workers are unlikely to be left out at random (Visaria, 1984). They are likely to be selectively left out from certain industry groups, e.g., agriculture, household industry, personal services, and certain activity status groups, e.g., cultivators/self employed.
Fortunately the quinquennial Employment and Unemployment Surveys of the National Sample Survey (NSS) conducted during 1972-73 (27th Round), 1977-78 (32nd Round) and 1983 (38th Round) provide estimates which appear broadly comparable with the 1961 Census.1 To ensure a comparable series of data on the work force, the analysis is restricted to time trends based on the 1961 Census and the subsequent NSS Surveys of 1972-73,1977-78 and 1983.
The worker population ratio (WPR) or the work force participation rate is a broad indicator of the level of employment in the economy. At the all-India level the long term trend in male work participation rates in rural areas between 1961 and 1983 indicates a more or less stable situation. The female work force participation rate, however,