This research examines the complex sociological drivers dictating entry into the informal domestic labour sector in Aizawl, Mizoram. Focusing on the structural intersection of youth, limited educational attainment, and low-barrier entry pathways, the paper explores how informal economies absorb marginalized labour forces. Utilizing a mixed-methods empirical design with a sample of 226 domestic workers, the study addresses a critical gap in Northeast Indian labour literature: the systemic absence of state enumeration, statistical recording, and regulatory oversight that renders domestic labour economically and socially invisible. Drawing upon Viviana Zelizer’s (2005) Relational Work framework alongside classic Labour Stratification Theory, this paper demonstrates how the “family-like” recruitment of young, uneducated rural women facilitates a distinct form of structural labour stratification. The findings indicate that while the sector’s extreme informality acts as an immediate “open door” for rural youth fleeing subsistence poverty, it ultimately functions as a mechanism of long-term economic entrapment—bypassing professional labour standards, limiting upward socio-economic mobility, and reinforcing gendered inequality within the urban environment.
Author : Rosie Vanlalruati Ralte
Keywords: Labour Stratification, Relational Work, Informal Sector, Age Demography, Educational Qualification, Easy Entry, Fictive Kinship
