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Urban waste workers in India deal with a brutal mix of physical injuries, chemical burns, infections, and long-term breathing problems but they get almost no extra pay for these risks A deep dive into 2023–24 PLFS data around 4800 waste worker records matched with state wise waste exposure stats from CPCB paints a stark picture.
The analysis uses a semi log hedonic wage model adjusting for education age gender and state level differences It passed key diagnostic tests like VIF for multicollinearity Cook’s Distance for outliers and both RESET and Breusch Pagan for specification and variance checks The coefficient for exposure clocks in at just 00008 and it is not even statistically significant That translates into a paltry risk premium of ₹94 a year per worker Not even close to the ₹500 it costs to buy the most basic PPE kit.
Tried slicing the data differently Ran the numbers with level wage formats added exposure squared checked gender and formal informal work splits even leaned on My estimation methods The outcome stayed the same No meaningful hazard pay.
Meanwhile schooling shows real value Every year of education bumps up wages by 104 percent solid and significant and the gender wage gap is still painfully wide Women make 183 percent less than men doing the same kind of dirty dangerous work.
Take this to the national level The shortfall for PPE alone adds up to about ₹650 million annually but here’s the kicker Even less than 005 percent of projected EWPR revenues could fill that gap easily A small carve out roughly 3 percent of the fee pool could deliver ₹406 per worker enough To nearly close the gap and fund tailored safety initiatives for women.
Bottom line the wage risk equation is broken the data does not lie and the path forward is clear EPR laws need to step up and account for the humans behind the waste piles.
Keywords: Hedonic wage, informal waste sector, compensating differentials, occupational health, Extended Waste Producer Responsibility, PLFS, CPCB, risk premium, gender wage gap, India.
