Abstract
In India’s economy, only a small percentage of workers are covered by social security. A tiny fraction of the remaining informal employees are those who are relatively privileged in terms of financial security and the ability to get acceptable levels of social security through the market. Over time, the Indian government and state governments have supplemented the limited number of statutory social security plans for the poor with a patchwork of non-statutory social protection schemes. Poverty and vulnerability coexist, feeding into an eco-system of escalating inequality, for the majority of the remaining employees, who confront high levels of employment, health, and income insecurity.Gender, social origin, and life cycle difficulties exacerbate the vulnerability of the very young and aged employees and families from socially marginalized groups, and women in the absence of a comprehensive basic rights-based social security system.