Motherhood and Economic Precarity: Household Survival, Social Reproduction, and Intergenerational Educational Aspirations Among Women Waste Pickers in Urban India

Abstract

Women engaged in recyclable material collection constitute one of the most economically marginalized yet environmentally indispensable groups within India's expanding urban informal economy. Despite the substantial contribution to urban labor markets, where informality, gender inequality, biasness and economic vulnerability intersect. Although they play a major role in recycling systems, they are still excluded of formal labor protections and many other vulnerability and social security programs. This exclusion not only reinforces material insecurity always but also perpetuates institutional invisibility and lack of concern within municipal governance systems. This study investigates between motherhood interacts with financial instability to influence family strategies for survival and the educational goals passed down through generations. By situating motherhood at the analytical centre, the research illuminates the complex interplay between productive labor responsibilities and unpaid caregiving obligations within contexts of chronic economic insecurity. The study is based on primary survey data collected from 300 female waste pickers in urban India. Composite indices measuring Economic Precarity, Household Resilience, and Mobility Aspirations, were constructed using Likert-scale tools to capture multidimensional lived experiences.

Reliability analysis, correlation, and multiple regression modelling reveal that economic precarity significantly reduces the perception of upward mobility, however maternal education levels and household resilience mechanisms significantly strenghten educational aspirations. These finding empirically validate resilience as a moderating factor within conditions of structural disadvantage. The results indicate that motherhood operates at the same time as a place of structural weakness and as a source of transformative power.

The study recommends the policy interventions focused on institutionals recognition systems and support educational programs across generations to disrupt patterns of inherited instability. Strengthening institutional inclusion and social security access may enable to social protection may contribute to more sustainable pathways for long-term mobility.

In urban India, the informal economy plays a important role in the lives of waste pickers, particularly women who balance motherhood with their work. These individuals often demonstrate resilience in the face of economic instability, yet their ability to achieve upward mobility across generations remains limited. Addressing these layered constraints requires an integrated policy and research approach that recognizes both structural barriers and individual agency.