Urban Livelihoods

Varibous Types of Livelihood in Urban Areas
    In urban areas (big cities and towns) different types of people reside and they practise different types of livelihoods. 
    Factory workers, shopkeepers, businessmen, professionals (like teachers, doctors, lawyers, clerks, etc.) are the main people who reside in the cities and towns. There are, however, other people who follow different kinds of professions. They include                    vegetable vendors, domestic servants, garment workers, and bank employees, etc.
    1.    Factory workers form a substantial part of the urban population. They are employed in different factories where they work day and night and produce various things of daily use such as cloth, hosiery articles, medicines, chemicals, etc.

    2.    Shopkeepers and businessmen are busy in buying and selling different types of things –from bread, butter, vegetables, fruits, food grains, sweets, groceries to books and stationery.

    3.    Professionals like teachers, doctors, lawyers, bank employees, clerks, postmen, policemen also form a major part of the urban population. They serve the society in their own way.

          Teachers and professors educate the students and enlighten them. Doctors work in hospitals and dispensaries and cure the people of their illness. The bank employees look into various money transaction jobs. The postman and other post office                          employees handle different means of communication and emotionally connect the people living in different parts of the country and abroad. The policeman helps in maintaining law and order in the cities and towns.

4.      Besides the above people, there are some other people who reside within urban areas such as vegetable vendors, domestic servants, garment workers, bank employees, etc. Vegetable  vendors move from street to street and supply fruits and vegetables           to citizens at their door-step. As the urban population leads a comfortable life they engage domestic servants who help them in their household duties like cooking, washing, and cleaning their rooms.
        There are scores of other people also who form a part of the urban population. It is not possible to mention all of them but all of them help each other in the best possible way.
 

Difference between Self-Employment Regular Employment and Wage Employment 

Self-Employment 
    In cities and towns a major part of the people are self-employed who themselves run their own businesses and shops. They are independent to run their show as they like. Their incomes depend on hard work and interaction. Shopkeepers and businessmen        form a major section of the self-employed .

Regular Employment
    There are some employees who are employed on a permanent basis. They are given a regular monthly salary and allowances. All public and private servants are part and parcel of regular employment.

Wage Employment
    People who are not employed on a regular basis and are engaged in day to day employment form a part of the wage employment. They are labourers, carpenters, painters, stone-cutters, sanitary workers, etc.

Rural-Urban Links through Migration
    The act of shifting from one place to the other is called migration. Due to lack of employment facilities in rural areas, many villagers migrate to neighbouring towns and cities. This links rural and urban lives. Such migration of rural folks to urban areas leads to      the over-crowding of cities thereby creating unsanitary conditions there. But it has certain advantages of its own. It leads to the prosperity of both the rural and urban people. The rural people can send their incomes to dependents living in the village and the        urban people can expand their business with the help of rural labour.Thus the rural people save their families from starvation and the urban people increase their production with easily available labour.

                                                          Key Words
SELFEMPLOYED     :     Those that run a business or a venture using their own resources
MIGRATION              :     Movement of people from rural areas to urban areas
DAILY WAGER          :     One who gets wages for a day's work
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