A critical analysis of the income and mental health conditions among skilled and unskilled informal occupational groups in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, West Bengal

Abstract

The informal workers are the underserved and often unnoticed workers in an urban setup as the work they perform are very low in economic value. Though the economic value is less but the share of informal workers is highest among all type of workers in any developing economy like India. The Siliguri Municipal Corporation is the sole metropolitan region of North Bengal often works as the kingpin of all types of informal activities. The income of the informal workers is very much skewed and depends on the certain skillset they have. Some of the informal workers having skills getting paid higher amount as compared to other workers. The mental health of the workers is also associated with their income level. The higher income comes with better standard of living and also associated with better mental condition on the other hand lower income associated with income stress give rise to various mental health disorders. The overall wellbeing of a person is associated with his or her income level so as for informal workers also income plays a significant role. The mental health conditions like frequent mood disorder, anxiety related disorder causing from future condition and income or alcohol consumption can be significantly impacted by income level of the urban informal workers. There can be a contrasting difference between skilled and unskilled workers income and their mental health condition. The present paper systematically discusses the relation between the income and mental health condition of skilled and unskilled urban informal workers in Siliguri Municipal Corporation.