While all chief wage earners in urban socio-economic category (SEC) E households segment are unskilled workers, most are above the age of 45 years and have barely attended primary school. Less than one-third have made it through middle school. The defining characteristic of this segment is, therefore, low education and skills and, consequently, low income. The overwhelming majority—95%—of households earn less than Rs. 3 lakh per year, with less than 1% making it into the affluent, more than Rs. 10 lakh category. The few places where such affluent households are found in this segment are Thane, Ahmedabad, urban parts of Gautam Buddh Nagar district, Mumbai, Ernakulam, Delhi, etc Also See | Household Size (PDF) Household sizes are generally large—the majority have five or more members. Yet, a little under one-quarter of the households have just one or two members. This is, therefore, a segment with diverse family characteristics—two-thirds of houses have no senior citizens, while one-third has no minors. Some 35% of households have more than two minors, the joint families showing their presence in this segment. Households with a greater number of minors are found largely in the northern states. Urban areas of Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Faridabad, Agra and Patna top the table with more than 55% of households having more than two minors. Expenditure in this segment, therefore, spans all age groups and all family types, making this large sub-segment of urban households an attractive, albeit low-income market. Manufacturing, construction, transport and communication, and agriculture are the major sectors offering employment to these unskilled workers. Manufacturing is dominant in smaller towns such as Muzaffarpur, Varanasi, Virudhanagar, Bhavnagar, Faridabad, Aligarh, etc., while agriculture dominates in the urban areas of districts such as Palakkad, Raigarh, Thrissur, Bellary, Sangrur, etc. The majority of chief wage earners in this segment find work as casual labourers, while around one-quarter have regular salaried jobs and a little more than a quarter are self-employed. Given their low skill levels, the self-employed would also be involved in agriculture, trade, etc. Just over half the households have a single earning member; in the rest the chief wage earner’s income is boosted with contributions from either adult children or spouses. In a quarter of the households, spouses work outside the homes, with a larger proportion of participation in southern and western states. Most spouses also have low education—just around 18% have been to middle school, the highest level of schooling attained in this segment. Yet one thing is quite clear. Even though all the adults have low education levels, the children in this segment would be going to school as the value of education has been realized by all sections of society. Around 70% of households live in homes owned by the chief wage earner. Television sets dominate among other assets, being present in more than 85% households, followed by two-wheelers in around one-quarter of households and refrigerators in about one-fifth. Cars and microwaves remain out of reach of most of these households. The dominance of television sets shows in media indicators as well—television takes up the highest time spent daily, with newspapers and radio a very distant second. The Internet has very little penetration overall, but households in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Ahmednagar, Thiruvananthapuram and Rohtak spend significant time on this medium.

1. Published: Mint dated 9th May, 2011
The heterogeneity
that characterizes
the modern Indian
consumer has
created a maze
that marketers
would like to
unravel in order to
target their
products and
services precisely.
In this fortnightly
series, Indicus
Analytics will
present the various
facets of urban
consumers, across
geographies and
socio-economic
groups
Indicus Consumer Data Products

2. While all chief wage earners in urban socio-economic category (SEC) E households
segment are unskilled workers, most are above the age of 45 years and have barely
attended primary school. Less than one-third have made it through middle school.
The defining characteristic of this segment is, therefore, low education and skills and,
consequently, low income. The overwhelming majority—95%—of households earn
less than Rs. 3 lakh per year, with less than 1% making it into the affluent, more than
Rs. 10 lakh category. The few places where such affluent households are found in
this segment are Thane, Ahmedabad, urban parts of Gautam Buddh Nagar district,
Mumbai, Ernakulam, Delhi, etc

3. Household sizes are generally large—the majority have five or more members. Yet,
a little under one-quarter of the households have just one or two members. This is,
therefore, a segment with diverse family characteristics—two-thirds of houses have
no senior citizens, while one-third has no minors. Some 35% of households have
more than two minors, the joint families showing their presence in this segment.
Households with a greater number of minors are found largely in the northern states.
Urban areas of Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Faridabad, Agra and Patna top the
table with more than 55% of households having more than two minors. Expenditure
in this segment, therefore, spans all age groups and all family types, making this
large sub-segment of urban households an attractive, albeit low-income market.

4. Manufacturing, construction, transport and communication, and agriculture are the
major sectors offering employment to these unskilled workers. Manufacturing is
dominant in smaller towns such as Muzaffarpur, Varanasi, Virudhanagar,
Bhavnagar, Faridabad, Aligarh, etc., while agriculture dominates in the urban
areas of districts such as Palakkad, Raigarh, Thrissur, Bellary, Sangrur, etc. The
majority of chief wage earners in this segment find work as casual labourers, while
around one-quarter have regular salaried jobs and a little more than a quarter are
self-employed. Given their low skill levels, the self-employed would also be
involved in agriculture, trade, etc.

5. Just over half the households have a single earning member; in the rest the chief
wage earner’s income is boosted with contributions from either adult children or
spouses. In a quarter of the households, spouses work outside the homes, with a
larger proportion of participation in southern and western states. Most spouses
also have low education—just around 18% have been to middle school, the
highest level of schooling attained in this segment. Yet one thing is quite clear.
Even though all the adults have low education levels, the children in this segment
would be going to school as the value of education has been realized by all
sections of society.

6. Around 70% of households live in
homes owned by the chief wage
earner. Television sets dominate
among other assets, being
present in more than 85%
households, followed by two-
wheelers in around one-quarter
of households and refrigerators in
about one-fifth. Cars and
microwaves remain out of reach
of most of these households. The
dominance of television sets
shows in media indicators as
well—television takes up the
highest time spent daily, with
newspapers and radio a very
distant second. The Internet has
very little penetration overall, but
households in Gurgaon, Mumbai,
Ahmednagar,
Thiruvananthapuram and Rohtak
spend significant time on this
medium.