Employment Status of Women in the Seafood Processing Sector of Gujarat

Abstract

More than 75% of the workforce in the seafood
processing sector in India are women. This study
explored the employment status of women in seafood
processing sector in Gujarat, which is one of the
largest states in terms of number of seafood processing
plants and quantity of seafood exports. The male
to female ratio in the industry was 1:1.74 and 1:1.66
in the contractual and permanent employment categories
respectively. About 63% of the respondents
were under 30 years of age and unmarried. The
monthly wages of women workers at the floor level
was ` 2594/- which is much lower than the minimum
wages prescribed by the Gujarat State for unskilled
workers which is ` 214.90 day-1. It was observed that
the major determinants of women’s employment in
the sector were their educational status and wages.
The wage of worker in processing sector showed
significant positive relationship with age, education
and work experience.