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Paper short abstract

To fully understand low-quality jobs, the Capability Approach calls for an emphasis on the freedoms of workers: the range of valued beings and doings they can achieve, both inside and outside the labour market (their Capability Sets). Using new data, I develop categorisations of the UK labour force using proxies for workers’ Capability Sets, shedding new light on their choices and constraints.

Paper long abstract

[I would like this paper to be considered for the Kuklys Prize]

The Capability Approach (CA) makes a crucial distinction between “achieved wellbeing”, which it defines as the achievement of valued beings and doings (Functionings), and “wellbeing freedom”, which as the range of combinations of achievable Functionings an individual has. This distinction has been described as “virtually absent from the [wider] wellbeing literature” (Robeyns, 2017, p. 119) and is therefore one of the key contributions of the CA. It has long been understood, since Sen’s earliest writings, that these freedoms can play a critical role in individuals’ “exchange entitlement” (Sen, 1983), and are thus critical to building human resilience in times of crisis. In the study of job quality, it is argued that this calls for measures not just of workers’ Functioning achievement from their current jobs, but their range of achievable Functionings other than their present work activity (Stephens, 2023a). Put another way, it forces us to ask about the choices and constraints faced by those in different forms of work: are they engaging in this work in a context where they have other opportunities, or do they act in the context of severely constrained choices? Considering these questions has the potential to uncover important new inequalities in the experience of work within and between societies.

This question of worker choice has become increasingly relevant to public policymaking and the wider social sciences. It has proven especially important in debates over precarious and insecure work in the context of the rapid growth of non-standard forms of employment in the Global North, and the continued predominance of such jobs in the Global South. To some policymakers in the UK, for example, the decision on whether to ban or regulate the application of novel technologies to work hinges on the freedoms and choices of workers accessing such jobs. A Government-commissioned report into UK job quality defended platform labour in terms of its ability to “present individuals with greater freedom over when to work, and what jobs to accept or decline, than most other business models” (Taylor, 2017, p. 37). Industry groups, in turn, have sought to defend this work by pointing to evidence that such workers’ subjective job satisfaction is high, and that workers’ self-reported reasons for accessing these jobs suggest they have a range of other work opportunities (CIPD, 2017).

Across the social sciences, similar calls to worker choice have been made to for example challenge characterisations of self-employed workers as more advantaged (Smeaton, 2003); critique the ‘Flexicurity’ agenda (Lehwess-Litzmann, 2012); and investigate the deeper structures inhibiting the wellbeing of gig economy workers (Wood et al., 2019). Feminist literature has also long emphasised the role of constrained choices in determining gender inequalities – highlighting for example the “part-time paradox” women face in being unable to simultaneously build a career and have a family (Epstein, 1999); the consequent constraints on their agency and, thus, Capabilities (Hobson, 2014); and the narrow range of sectors women in the labour force are constrained to working in (Charles and Grusky, 2004). Capability-based critiques of Active Labour Market Policy have also called for the development of policies which enhance the range of choices (both in paid work and otherwise) available to unemployed workers (Beck, 2018; Egdell and Beck, 2020; Gousia et al., 2021; Greer, 2016).

However, to date, it has been difficult to come to a definitive judgment about the freedoms of workers in low-quality jobs because the lack of a shared conceptualisation of how these freedoms should feature in the assessment of their work-related wellbeing. For example: how should freedoms be measured? What relative weight should be assigned to these different measures? How should they be considered alongside the quality of their current jobs? The conclusions one may draw hinge heavily on the answer to these questions. A focus on subjective wellbeing, for example, would likely lead to a more generous assessment of the freedoms of those in many jobs often considered “low-quality”, in light of the high job satisfaction for example part-time workers (Booth and Van Ours, 2008), cleaners (Léné, 2019), and women (Clark, 1997). The contribution of the CA to this debate has also been stunted because of continued debates amongst CA scholars over the complexities associated with measuring the freedom aspects of capabilities, given the inherent “counterfactual nature” of the Capability Set (Comim, 2008, p. 173). Literature on multidimensional job quality has also tended to emphasise the quality of current jobs, and has been limited in its wider applications due to the lack of more detailed survey data.

In this paper, I argue the CA provides the basis of a unifying framework to measure the freedoms of workers, due to its emphasis on wellbeing freedom. In line with other scholars engaged in the CA (Felstead et al., 2019; Green, 2007; Sehnbruch, 2004), I reject subjective wellbeing-based approaches to measuring worker freedoms, providing new evidence of adaptive preferences for workers in low-quality jobs. I apply a CA-based measure of worker freedoms using an existing UK Quality of Work (QoW) index (Stephens, 2023b), and with data from a large-scale UK household survey (Understanding Society), covering the period 2010-2022.

In the absence of a direct measures of capabilities, this paper measures the Capability Set multi-dimensionally using several proxies for worker freedoms, informed by a review of how existing literature has attempted to measure these freedoms. This includes data on workers’ household circumstances, assets, skills, human capital, social class, and work trajectories. A distinction is made between the freedom workers have to engage in other paid work, versus their freedom to achieve all other states of wellbeing other than paid work. Workers are then categorised into different potential groups based on these dimensions using a mix of normative and data-driven categorisation techniques.

The paper then investigates the range of choices available to workers in l0w-quality jobs, determined by their scores in the QoW index. The difference in the extent of these freedoms is then analysed both over time; and between sub-groups such as gender and ethnicity.

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Paper short abstract

In last two decades India has seen massive reforms, pandemic and economic growth, the current government’s focus on ‘Nari Shakti’ and women’s consolidation as strong voters makes it imperative to understand the changes in the women’s empowerment across its various dimensions, and across the states of India. To do so the paper utilises the three rounds of NFHS data.

Paper long abstract

Women’s empowerment is instrumentally important for achieving positive development outcomes and well-being of women which lies in the doing and being what she values and have reason to value, i.e. agency. Sen made a strong claim for increasing the agency of the individual to enable them to be an effective agent of their own well-being and development. Within CA framework, women’s empowerment is conceptualized as the enhancement of their substantive freedoms across various dimensions, including education, healthcare, property rights, autonomy, and socio-economic status. Using our earlier work (Mishra & Tripathi 2014) we measure women empowerment as combined measure of ownership of basic resources, agency and autonomy, where ownership of basic resources are measured in year of schooling, economic activity, bank account, mobile & internet, agency making strategic decisions of life, autonomy freedom to choose, utilising the three rounds of NFHS data. In last two decades India has seen massive reforms, pandemic and economic growth, the current government’s focus on ‘Nari Shakti’ and women’s consolidation as strong voters makes it very critical to understand the changes in the women’s empowerment across its various dimensions, and across the states of India.

The paper is divided into two parts the first part analysis the change in the indicators of empowerment of two decades and across the Indian states, to understand the trend and pattern. The second part of the paper builds a composite index to explore the trend and rate of change in women empowerment across the major states of India.

Our analysis suggest promising trends in women’s educational attainment, reflecting improvements in access to schooling and higher education opportunities. However, persistent disparities remain, particularly in rural areas and among marginalized communities, limiting women’s freedom to pursue educational goals and fully participate in social and economic life. Further the analysis suggest the complexities of women’s autonomy, reflecting variations across socio-economic groups and states of India. While there have been advancements in women’s decision-making power, but the entrenched gender norms, socio-economic constraints, and cultural barriers continue to restrict women’s freedom to make choices about their education, health, and participation in public and political sphere. Similarly the results highlights improvements in healthcare accessibility and utilization among women, driven by government’s initiatives to improve maternal and child health outcomes. However, disparities persist, particularly in rural areas where access to quality healthcare remains limited. Lastly our analysis reveals positive trends in women’s labor force participation and ownership of banks account due to ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’. However, gender disparities persist, with women getting lower wages, occupational segregation and dual work burden. The result across all the dimensions suggest rapid improvement in the states like Tamil Nādu, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala, but a very slower improvement in the northern states followed by western states like Rajasthan and Haryana. Very impressive improvement is shown by one of the states in east i.e. Orrisa.

Capability Approach offers a valuable framework not only for understanding and analysing the trajectory of change in women’s empowerment but importantly in addressing these challenges, through government action, public policy reforms, public action, and investments in human capital. By enhancing women’s capabilities and expanding their freedoms, India can tap the remaining half of the human capital attain several SDGs and advance towards a more equitable and inclusive society.

Keywords: Women Empowerment, Autonomy, Agency & Public policy

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Paper short abstract

In last two decades India has seen massive reforms, pandemic and economic growth, the current government’s focus on ‘Nari Shakti’ and women’s consolidation as strong voters makes it imperative to understand the changes in the women’s empowerment across its various dimensions, and across the states of India. To do so the paper utilises the three rounds of NFHS data.

Paper long abstract

Women’s empowerment is instrumentally important for achieving positive development outcomes and well-being of women which lies in the doing and being what she values and have reason to value, i.e. agency. Sen made a strong claim for increasing the agency of the individual to enable them to be an effective agent of their own well-being and development. Within CA framework, women’s empowerment is conceptualized as the enhancement of their substantive freedoms across various dimensions, including education, healthcare, property rights, autonomy, and socio-economic status. Using our earlier work (Mishra & Tripathi 2014) we measure women empowerment as combined measure of ownership of basic resources, agency and autonomy, where ownership of basic resources are measured in year of schooling, economic activity, bank account, mobile & internet, agency making strategic decisions of life, autonomy freedom to choose, utilising the three rounds of NFHS data. In last two decades India has seen massive reforms, pandemic and economic growth, the current government’s focus on ‘Nari Shakti’ and women’s consolidation as strong voters makes it very critical to understand the changes in the women’s empowerment across its various dimensions, and across the states of India.

The paper is divided into two parts the first part analysis the change in the indicators of empowerment of two decades and across the Indian states, to understand the trend and pattern. The second part of the paper builds a composite index to explore the trend and rate of change in women empowerment across the major states of India.

Our analysis suggest promising trends in women’s educational attainment, reflecting improvements in access to schooling and higher education opportunities. However, persistent disparities remain, particularly in rural areas and among marginalized communities, limiting women’s freedom to pursue educational goals and fully participate in social and economic life. Further the analysis suggest the complexities of women’s autonomy, reflecting variations across socio-economic groups and states of India. While there have been advancements in women’s decision-making power, but the entrenched gender norms, socio-economic constraints, and cultural barriers continue to restrict women’s freedom to make choices about their education, health, and participation in public and political sphere. Similarly the results highlights improvements in healthcare accessibility and utilization among women, driven by government’s initiatives to improve maternal and child health outcomes. However, disparities persist, particularly in rural areas where access to quality healthcare remains limited. Lastly our analysis reveals positive trends in women’s labor force participation and ownership of banks account due to ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’. However, gender disparities persist, with women getting lower wages, occupational segregation and dual work burden. The result across all the dimensions suggest rapid improvement in the states like Tamil Nādu, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala, but a very slower improvement in the northern states followed by western states like Rajasthan and Haryana. Very impressive improvement is shown by one of the states in east i.e. Orrisa.

Capability Approach offers a valuable framework not only for understanding and analysing the trajectory of change in women’s empowerment but importantly in addressing these challenges, through government action, public policy reforms, public action, and investments in human capital. By enhancing women’s capabilities and expanding their freedoms, India can tap the remaining half of the human capital attain several SDGs and advance towards a more equitable and inclusive society.

Keywords: Women Empowerment, Autonomy, Agency & Public policy

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Paper short abstract

The paper conceptualizes mobility within the CA framework, emphasizing its crucial role in expanding individuals' opportunities to attain desired health outcomes. It examines how variations in capability to mobility are influenced by factors such as geographic location, socio-economic status, cultural norms, and road and transport which affect women’s access to healthcare services using NFHS 5.

Paper long abstract

Mobility capability is not only intrinsically important but instrumentally catalytic to what Sen calls an individual’s ‘doings and beings. The restrictions on the mobility of women reduce their capability to mobility to the lowest levels. Empirically, in India and many other countries restrictions on mobility have resulted in higher drop-out rates for girls, lower access to health, and lower participation of women in the labor market and public life; meaning mobility capability adversely affects many other capabilities (Tripathi & Mishra 2016, HDCA 2017, 2019). Our earlier work (unpublished, HDCA2019) has shown the role of the mobility capability – (instrumental role) in gaining an ‘identity’, ‘exposure’, ‘information’, and ‘advice’ to the women participating in SHGs. Building on our previous work the present paper attempts to understand the interaction between capability to mobility and health capability as embedded in healthcare-seeking behavior, which in turn is affected by the availability of health services, information, and affordability. To understand it we have conceptualized healthcare utilization as a manifestation of agency constrained by contextual factors—like informational barriers, financial constraints, and cultural norms—highlighting the complex decision-making processes underlying women’s utilization of health services.

The paper is divided into two parts. The first part of the paper explores the conceptualization of mobility within the CA framework, emphasizing its crucial role in expanding individuals' opportunities to attain desired health outcomes. Further, the paper examines the link between capability to mobility and access to healthcare services. It examines how variations in capability to mobility are influenced by factors such as geographic location, socio-economic status, cultural norms, and road and transport which affect women’s access to healthcare services.

In the second part of the paper utilizing the data from the National Family Health Survey NFHS- 5 (2019-2020), we measure capability to mobility based on freedom of mobility constrained by private transport owned by the household and violence against women in public. Here, freedom of mobility is measured on a scale of three, 1-free to move, 2- needs male permission, 3- needs male escort to go outside the village, health centre, and parent’s home. Health capability is based on actual visits to health centers for oneself or children and health outcomes of women as nested in awareness, travel time, transportation, and affordability of healthcare facilities.

Since female’s freedom of mobility is nested within the availability of road and transport and violence in public, it can’t be captured from simple regression analysis. Therefore we used the structural equation model (SEM) and path analysis to construct freedom of mobility as a latent variable and in the second stage analyzed its effect on women’s access to health services and their health capability as a composite indicator of utilization of health services and health outcome. As discussed above woman’s actual utilization of healthcare services is considered as a woman’s extension of agency contingent on her capability to mobility, health infrastructure, and affordability. Drawing upon Sen's CA, this paper examines how variations in capability to mobility affect individuals' capability to health.

The result of the study suggests that in rural areas with limited transportation infrastructure, women face significant barriers in reaching healthcare facilities, further suppressed by the restriction on mobility, and have the lowest visits to the health center. Moreover, socio-economic disparities, such as income inequality and educational attainment, are crucial factors for the mobility constraints and further impede the access to healthcare among women. The result of the study suggests that the greater the restriction on women’s mobility the lower their visits to the health centers and their awareness about diseases.

Keywords: Capability to mobility, Capability to health

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Paper short abstract

Global poverty measures face challenges due to data limitations and diverse human experiences. Countries develop their own multidimensional poverty indices (MPIs) to address this. In India, the revised MPI will consider various dimensions education, health, and social factors, reflecting India's complex poverty landscape, aiding policymakers in poverty alleviation efforts.

Paper long abstract

Introduction

Poverty measures compare people in a society in order to assess the extent of unacceptable disadvantages that exist. Yet any poverty measure is itself imperfect. Imperfections stem primarily from two factors: data limitations and the diversity of human lives being assessed. Internationally comparable measures face a greater challenge on both counts: the pool of comparable data is narrower, and the diversity of lives and contexts being compared is greater (Alkire and Jahan, 2018). There has been development of number of national multidimensional poverty index with the utilisation of context specific dimensions and indicators (Mexico, Colombia, Bhutan, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Pakistan, Ecuador, Honduras, Armenia, Mozambique, Dominican Republic, Panama, Nepal, Philippines, Nigeria, and Malaysia, among others). In the development of National MPIs many countries have added to the dimensions of Global-MPI to construct National-MPI, for instance, MPI of Latin America and Caribbean added a dimension of Labour. While some countries have used the same dimensions as Global-MPI, however, added to the list of indicators. The first major revision of global-MPI indicators was done in 2018, hence, this study is an exploratory study to further revise the indicators based on indian national development agenda and data availability.

Methodology

This paper utilized data from the fifth National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) round conducted in 2019-2021. The NFHS is a comprehensive cross-sectional demographic health survey conducted throughout India under the authority of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The first NFHS survey was conducted in 1992-93; and since then there have been a total of five survey rounds. The NFHS surveys aim to provide valuable information on various demographic and health indicators at the district, state, and national levels. NFHS-5 employed a two-stage stratified random sampling design to ensure representative coverage. By collecting data from 636,699 households and 2843917 individuals, NFHS-5 aimed to comprehensively understand the demographic and health status.

The Alkire and Foster (AF) methodology was employed to calculate multidimensional poverty indices. This methodology utilizes the dual cut-off method, where individuals or households below specific thresholds for each weighted indicator are identified as poor within that dimension. Subsequently, these individuals are aggregated across dimensions, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of multidimensional poverty. Three estimates of multidimensional poverty—headcount ratio, Intensity of poverty, and Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)—has been depicted as follows:

Headcount ratio (H): It represents the proportion of individuals experiencing multidimensional poverty to the total population and can be denoted as-

H=q/n

……….(1)

Where q is the number of multidimensional poor individuals and n is the total population.

Intensity of Poverty (I): It represents the average deprivation score, taking into account the weights assigned to each dimension, for all individuals experiencing multidimensional poverty and can be denoted as-

A=(∑_1^q▒c)/q

……….(2)

Where c is the deprivation score experienced by the multidimensionally poor.

Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): It is the product of headcount ratio and Incidence of poverty and can be denoted as-

MPI=H*A

……….(3)

Where H is the headcount ratio, and A is the Intensity of poverty.

A detailed description of the dimensions and indicators of the multidimensional poverty estimation is presented in Table 1.1 and Table 1.2. We have used three dimensions (Health, Education, and Standard of Living) and ten indicators alike the Global-MPI specifications. Under the health dimension, there were two indicators- child mortality and nutrition; under the education dimension, there were two indicators-years of schooling and school attendance; under the standard of living dimension, there were six indicators- cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and asset. The multidimensional poverty threshold was determined at 33% or deprived in one-third of the weighted deprivation score. . The revised framework incorporated modification in child mortality estimation, increase in education threshold, and composition of asset components.

Results

The OPHI estimates have identified 16.4% of individual to be living in multidimensional poverty in 2019-21 with MPI 0.069. While only the child mortality indicator was revised the headcount ratio was increased to 16.5%, whereas, with the revision in education indicator and asset indicator the incidence of poverty was altered to 18.8% and 18.3% respectively. Moreover, the cumulative revision of child mortality and education, and child mortality, education, and asset the head count ratio was 18.9% and 21%. The multidimensional poverty level increased from 16.4% to 21% with the revision of indicators.

Conclusion

This paper is a significant robust estimate of multidimensional poverty. This study is a primary contribution to construct a relevant multidimensional poverty index of India to reflect the multidimensional poverty of the country. Identification of the poverty level is crucial to achieve the aspirational SDG 1.2. Further, this exercise adds to the literature of multidimensional poverty to track the progress and monitoring of various policies and programs in reducing deprivation level in various development indicators.