The relentless grip of extreme heat in India is not just a weather phenomenon; it's a force that's pushing the country's poorest workers deeper into the abyss of poverty. This is the stark reality laid bare by new research from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), which reveals a disturbing trend: extreme heat is acting as a 'poverty multiplier' for hundreds of millions of workers in India's informal sector.
The numbers are eye-opening. Those toiling in physically demanding jobs, such as agriculture, construction, and transport, lost an average of 6.6% of their salaries in 2024 due to extreme heat. But it's the outdoor workers who bear the brunt, with losses nearing 9% of their salary, amounting to a substantial £112 ($151).
What makes this particularly fascinating is the geographic variation. The economic loss was highest in Rajasthan, a desert region plagued by prolonged heatwaves and a rising death toll. Here, informal workers lost the equivalent of 8.3% of their income, a testament to the grueling effects of extreme heat on the human body.
The implications are far-reaching. Each year, a staggering 21.1 working days are lost in India due to extreme heat, an unaffordable luxury for the 550 million workers in the informal sector. As Ritu Bharadwaj, climate finance director at IIED, puts it, "Heat is quietly pushing these families deeper into poverty. As the heat rises, their efficiency goes down, so they earn less. With lower income, their food intake falls. And because they cannot afford to stop, they keep working through it, doing lasting damage to their health."
From my perspective, this raises a deeper question: how can we, as a global community, address this issue? It's not just about the immediate impact on these workers' livelihoods; it's about the long-term health consequences and the deepening of existing inequalities.
One thing that immediately stands out is the vulnerability of informal workers. These are people who lack employment security, forcing them to work through illness and tolerate unsafe conditions. Access to basic necessities like drinking water, shade, rest areas, sanitation, and medical support is often poor, leaving them with no respite from the heat, even at home.
Take, for instance, the story of Inder and Laxmi Kumar, a couple working on a construction site in Gurugram. They've both suffered from dehydration and heat exhaustion, advised by doctors to rest. Yet, they have no choice but to continue working, fearing loss of pay. Their five-year-old son plays in the rubble, a stark reminder of the intergenerational impact of these conditions.
The burden on female laborers is even heavier. Many juggle their work with caring for young children, like Kumkumari, who cools her two-year-old daughter with water beside a construction site water tanker. When her daughter falls sick, she has to choose between work and care, a decision no one should have to make.
The long-term health implications are also concerning. Prolonged exposure to heat and dehydration increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, and the IIED research estimates that over time, one in 20 informal workers in India could develop this condition, affecting over 26 million workers.
This is not just a story about India; it's a global issue. Human-caused climate breakdown is intensifying heatwaves worldwide, and countries like India, where nine out of ten work in the informal economy, could be the first to face heatwaves beyond human survivability limits, as a World Bank report warns.
The economic cost is staggering too. The research estimates that heat could cost the Indian economy at least £58 billion, equivalent to 2% of its GDP, due to lost wages, worksite closures, and long-term losses from heat-related illnesses.
In conclusion, the impact of extreme heat on India's poorest workers is a complex web of physical, economic, and social challenges. It's a crisis that demands our attention and action, not just for the sake of these workers, but for the future of our planet and its most vulnerable populations.
