The employment figures tell a positive story but much is left to get jobs for the transgender community in India.
It was a major feat when Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 was tabled in the parliament. Even though the bill was not passed, the mere act of recognising the community provided economic freedom and social support for around 4.88 Lakh people. Also finally, the transgender community has became a part of vital data sets like employment and unemployment surveys.
Source: Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons aged 15 year & above according to Usual Principal Status Approach (UPS) based on 2″d, 3’d, 4th and 5th Employment-Unemployment Survey (EUS), Annual Report 2017-18
The 2016-17 Employment and Unemployment Survey captured the Labour Force Participation rate amongst the transgender population. Labour force participation rate refers to the part of working population that is currently employed or seeking employment. It is, hence, used widely to understand the willingness to work within the population between 16-65 year olds. Hence, its a major accomplishment if the LFPR for transgender population was 48 percent in 2016-17. In comparison, the LFPR for women and men was 23 and 75 per cent respectively clearly signifying how low the female labour force participation is.
Although the figures tell a positive story, the reality lies in the fact that in the first week of their job, 8 of the 23 transgender people, all trans women, quit. As elaborated by Somak Ghoshal,
“Employed in a variety of roles, from ticketing to housekeeping staff, which paid between ₹9,000-₹15,000 a month, most of them found it impossible to make ends meet, especially since landlords in the city charged them ₹400-₹600 a day for the most basic accommodation. That is, if they agreed to rent a place to them at all.”