Maternity protection for informal workers in India: Possibilities and limits of employer and state action

Abstract

Existing literature highlights significant gaps in the access to maternity protection for informal women workers across the Global South. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has identified seven components of adequate maternity protection necessary for safeguarding child well-being, maternal health and income security. However, informal women workers are systematically excluded from both employment-linked protections due to the absence of a recognized employer–employee relationship as well as state-led benefits, which are often inadequately designed and covered. In response to these challenges, several non-governmental organizations (NGO) in India have developed worksite-based approaches that integrate maternity protection components for informal workers, using the infrastructural space of childcare services as an entry point. This article examines the pathways through which these NGOs create access to maternity protection – including direct delivery methods, facilitating access and negotiations and bargaining with employers and the state. These pathways reveal that engagement with employers is essential for worksite-based informal women workers, despite its boundaries, and also highlights that the state has an irreplaceable role in fulfilling its regulatory duties and designing and implementing schemes that address the specific needs and conditions of informal workers.