Extreme Heat Saps Health and Wages of India's Poorest Workers 2026

Extreme heat is pushing some of India's poorest workers further into poverty, with income losses of up to 9% for outdoor workers, new research has found. Analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) reveals that this crisis acts as a poverty multiplier, deepening inequality across the country's informal sector.

How Extreme Heat Impacts Income and Health

Outdoor workers in agriculture, construction, and transport lost an average of 6.6% of their salaries in 2024 due to extreme heat. Those in the arid desert region of Rajasthan suffered the most, losing 8.3% of their income. The economic toll is staggering: each year, 21.1 working days are lost in India because of extreme heat, an unaffordable loss for the 550 million workers in the informal sector.

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.”

Comparison of Income Losses by Sector

Key Takeaways

• Extreme heat acts as a poverty multiplier, worsening structural inequalities.
• Outdoor workers lose up to 9% of their salary annually due to heat-related productivity drops.
• Rajasthan sees the highest economic losses, with 8.3% income reduction.
• Human-caused climate breakdown intensifies heatwaves, making them more frequent and severe.
• Without intervention, millions face lasting health damage and deepening poverty.

Health Consequences of Extreme Heat

Workers often cannot afford to stop laboring, leading to chronic health issues like heat exhaustion, kidney damage, and cardiovascular stress. “When I get home, my whole body aches,” one worker reported, highlighting the physical toll. The combination of lost wages and poor nutrition creates a vicious cycle of poverty.

FAQ

This crisis underscores the urgent need for climate adaptation policies, including heat action plans, social protection, and better working conditions for India's informal workforce. Without action, the cycle of poverty and health damage will only intensify.