Present study aims to addresses the omission of marginalised workers from dominant well-being and employment frameworks by centring the lived experiences and voices of urban waste collectors in India. It addresses the issues pertaining to recognise dignity, social protection and voice beyond formal employment through waste pickers voices.
The study implements a multi-stage scale development approach, based on extensive literature review and fieldwork with waste collectors. Survey data were collected from 1,200 household waste collectors in Bangalore, India. Particular attention was given to capturing contextually grounded dimensions of well-being that are often absent from formal employment-centric measures, including legal recognition, social stigma and occupational precarity.
The findings publicised multi-layered and structurally embedded forms of exclusion experienced by waste collectors, including legal invisibility, social devaluation, financial insecurity and health vulnerability. These dimensions reflect broader patterns of marginalisation within informal and non-standard work arrangements. The study findings propose 22 item multidimensional scale capturing occupational, financial, health, legal and social aspects of worker well-being.
The scale provides practical measures that local municipal agencies, policymakers, NGOs and philanthropists can implement to address and mitigate the social stigma associated with waste collection. The instrument may also be altered for other marginalised worker groups operating outside formal employment structures.
This study contributes to inclusive research on work and employment by reimagining worker well-being measurement for informal and marginalised labour contexts. By highlighting characteristics that are frequently overlooked in mainstream frameworks, the study challenges formal employment-centric assumptions and provides a contextually grounded tool that promotes dignity, acknowledgement and voice among marginalised workers.
