Extreme heat is pushing some of India’s poorest workers deeper into poverty, with new research revealing income losses of up to 9% for outdoor laborers. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) found that extreme heat acts as a “poverty multiplier” for hundreds of millions of informal sector workers in India, worsening structural inequalities and threatening health.
How Extreme Heat Reduces Wages
According to the IIED study, workers in highly physical jobs in agriculture, construction, and transport lost an average of 6.6% of their salaries in 2024 due to extreme heat. Outdoor workers suffered the most, losing nearly 9% of their salary—equivalent to £112 ($151). In the arid region of Rajasthan, where prolonged heatwaves have become deadly, informal workers lost 8.3% of their income because the heat made them unable to work.
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Each year, an estimated 21.1 working days are lost across India due to extreme heat. For the 550 million workers in the informal sector—who have no paid leave or health insurance—these lost days drive families deeper into poverty.
Health Impacts of Working in Extreme Heat
Climate breakdown intensifies every heatwave, and India is one of the most affected countries. As Ritu Bharadwaj, climate finance director at the IIED, explains: “Heat is quietly pushing these families deeper into poverty. As the heat rises, their efficiency goes down, so they earn less. With lower income their food intake falls. And because they cannot afford to stop, they keep working through it, doing lasting damage to their health.”
Chronic dehydration, heatstroke, and kidney disease are common among outdoor workers, yet they have no choice but to continue laboring. The economic and health burdens fall disproportionately on the poorest, who are least responsible for the emissions driving climate change.
Income Loss Comparison by Sector (2024)
| Sector | Average Income Loss |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | 7.2% |
| Construction | 8.1% |
| Transport | 6.5% |
| All outdoor workers | 9.0% |
| Rajasthan (all informal workers) | 8.3% |
Key Takeaways
- Extreme heat reduces worker productivity and increases health risks, especially for informal laborers.
- Income losses of 6–9% push families into a cycle of poverty: less food, worse health, lower earnings.
- Climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and intense, disproportionately affecting India’s poorest.
- Urgent policy interventions—such as heat action plans, social protection, and workplace cooling—are needed.
FAQ
How does extreme heat affect workers’ incomes?
Extreme heat forces workers to slow down, take breaks, or stop entirely, reducing their daily output and daily wages. Over a year, this leads to significant income losses of up to 9% for outdoor workers.
What is India’s informal sector?
The informal sector includes workers without formal contracts, social security, or paid leave, such as casual laborers, small farmers, street vendors, and domestic workers. They represent about 90% of India’s workforce.
What can be done to protect workers from extreme heat?
Solutions include implementing early warning systems, providing shaded rest areas, ensuring access to drinking water, adjusting work hours to cooler times, and expanding social protection like paid sick leave and health insurance.
As the planet continues to warm, the burden on India’s most vulnerable workers will only grow. Without swift action, extreme heat will continue to act as a poverty multiplier, deepening inequality and threatening lives.
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