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Real wages rose most for managers, declined for clerks: CSEP study

Growth in real average annual income between 2017-18 and 2023-24 has been the highest for 'administrators and managers', while wages of 'clerks' have declined, shows the latest paper by private think tank Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). The paper, authored by Amaresh Dubey and Laveesh Bhandari, estimated average annual growth in daily real wages for seven occupations for the period. The data showed real daily wages for 'administrators and managers' grew at an annual average of 6.7 per cent to ₹611.9 in 2023-24 from ₹414.1 in 2017-18. Wages of 'clerks' declined at an annual average of 1.3 per cent to ₹397.6 from ₹429.7 in the period. 'The most notable increase in annual incomes has been among those classified as administrators and managers. While there is some variation in real growth, the key issue is that overall real wages have not increased significantly for most segments,' the paper read. In the six-year period, real daily wages for other occupation groups like 'sales and service workers' saw an average annual growth rate of 0.64 per cent to ₹262.5 from ₹252.6, while those of 'agriculture and fishery workers' and 'professionals, associate professionals' grew 0.72 per cent and 0.81 per cent, respectively. 'We believe that this low wage growth, despite high employment growth, is not a temporary anomaly. It is indeed a matter of concern. Although the six-year period is not particularly long, it is not short either. If these trends persist, they could impact not only equity but also long-term economic growth,' the paper said. The paper shows growth in the real average annual wage of educated Indians has seen a decline during this period. Real daily wages of 'graduates and above' saw an annual average decline of 0.22 per cent to ₹517.7 from ₹524.6 during this period, and those of 'secondary, higher secondary and diploma holders' also went down by 0.12 per cent to ₹281.1 from ₹283.2. On the other hand, the average real wages of 'low educated Indians' saw a paltry increase over this period. The data shows that people who are categorised as 'literate but below primary' saw their wages rise by an average of 1.63 per cent during this period, followed by people who are categorised as 'primary educated' (1.10 per cent) and 'not literate' (0.96 per cent). The study examined the broad patterns of employment emerging in India, utilising datasets from the National Statistics Office (NSO), specifically the Employment and Unemployment Survey (EUS) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). Among other findings, the paper showed employment has been increasing steadily throughout the period under consideration, with female employment rising faster than male employment. It also showed there is relative stagnation in cropping-sector employment, with the non-cropping sector, which includes livestock and higher-value agriculture accounting for two-thirds of employment growth.