Domestic service as a survival strategy in Delhi, India

Raghuram, Parvati and Momsen, Janet (1993). Domestic service as a survival strategy in Delhi, India. Geoforum, 24(1) pp. 55–62.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7185(93)90014-9

Abstract

In developing countries, domestic work is an important source of employment for women who have migrated to urban areas. This paper looks at a group of women who have moved to Delhi after multiple migrations from their home in the Tippera district of Bangladesh. It discusses the role played by the women of this community in the process of adjustment and the significance of domestic service in this process. These women have utilised a variety of strategies to accommodate to change, using social relations as security nets in the process of adjustment.