The relentless grip of extreme heat in India is not just a weather phenomenon; it's a force that's pushing the country's poorest workers further into the depths of poverty. This is the stark reality unveiled by recent research from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), which has exclusively shared its findings with The Guardian. The study reveals a disturbing trend: extreme heat acts as a 'poverty multiplier,' exacerbating the already challenging circumstances of hundreds of millions of workers in India's informal sector.
The numbers paint a grim picture. Those engaged in physically demanding jobs, such as agriculture, construction, and transport, have seen their salaries take a significant hit, with an average loss of 6.6% in 2024 due to extreme heat. Outdoor workers, who are at the forefront of this battle, have suffered the most, losing nearly 9% of their earnings, which equates to a substantial £112 ($151).
One of the hardest-hit regions is Rajasthan, a desert state known for its prolonged heatwaves and rising heat-related deaths. Here, informal workers have experienced an income loss equivalent to 8.3%, a direct result of the grueling physical effects of extreme heat, which render them unable to work at full capacity.
The economic impact is staggering. The IIED research estimates that each year, India loses a staggering 21.1 working days due to extreme heat, an unaffordable luxury for the 550 million workers in the informal sector. This loss is not just financial; it's a loss of productivity, a loss of opportunity, and a loss of hope for a better future.
Ritu Bharadwaj, the climate finance director at IIED, puts it bluntly: "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. They are paying for a crisis they did nothing to cause, with their health and with their savings."
The implications of this crisis are far-reaching. Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more intense and more frequent, and India, with its predominantly informal economy, could be one of the first places where heatwaves push human survivability to its limits, according to a World Bank report. The economic cost of heat is estimated to be at least £58 billion, which is equivalent to 2% of India's GDP, and this figure accounts for lost wages due to reduced productivity, worksite closures, and long-term losses from heat-related illnesses.
Informal workers, who are among the most socially and economically marginalized, bear the brunt of this crisis. They lack employment security, which means they often have no choice but to work through illness and tolerate unsafe conditions. Access to basic necessities like drinking water, shade, rest areas, sanitation, and medical support at worksites is poor, and many workers return to homes that offer no respite from the heat.
The stories of those on the front lines are heart-wrenching. Inder and Laxmi Kumar, a husband and wife working on a construction site in Gurugram, have both fallen ill due to the extreme heat. They've missed work, lost income, and struggled to provide for their two young sons and four other family members back in their village in Madhya Pradesh. Despite feeling like their bodies were on fire, they kept working because stopping meant not being paid.
"I felt like I would collapse, like my body was on fire," Laxmi said. "We kept working because if we stopped, we wouldn't be paid."
The extreme heat has taken a toll on their health, and they've had to spend much of their income on medicines. Their home, a small tarpaulin shelter inside an unfinished building, offers little relief from the heat, and they sleep in stifling conditions with their young son.
For female laborers, the burden is even heavier. Many of them spend their working days caring for young children, and the heat makes this task even more challenging. Kumkumari, a 35-year-old construction worker, pours water over her two-year-old daughter to cool her down, as the heat often makes her sick.
The long-term health effects are also concerning. Prolonged exposure to heat and dehydration increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, and the IIED research estimates that over time, one in 20 informal workers in India could develop this condition, which equates to over 26 million workers.
Sattavir, a 38-year-old laborer, is one such example. He developed a kidney infection after working in extreme heat and suffering from repeated dehydration. He's now struggling to find work, as his health has deteriorated, and he's faced with mounting medical bills and debt.
"The heat is killer," he said. "In the last two months, I earned barely 7,000 rupees but spent around 9,000 rupees on medicines and treatment. I'm already in debt, but I'm still looking for work even though doctors say I need treatment for my kidneys."
This crisis is not just about the immediate impact of extreme heat; it's about the long-term consequences for the health, well-being, and economic stability of India's poorest workers. It's a crisis that demands urgent attention and action, not just from policymakers and researchers, but from all of us who care about social justice and the future of our planet.
As we reflect on these findings, we must ask ourselves: What can we do to support and protect those who are bearing the brunt of this climate crisis? How can we ensure that the most vulnerable among us are not left behind in our efforts to combat climate change and build a more sustainable future?
