Too Hot to Work: How Rising Temperatures Are Threatening Indian Women Workers 

As extreme heat becomes the new normal, millions of informal women workers in India are paying the price with lost income, declining health, and zero protection, while policy responses remain dangerously slow. 

Across agriculture, construction, domestic work, and home-based enterprises, women are forced to choose between working through unsafe heat or losing wages they cannot afford to forgo. With no paid leave, contracts, or social security, every heatwave pushes uncertain livelihoods closer to collapse. 

Key highlights 

• In 2023, every person in India was exposed to over 2,400 hours which is nearly 100 days of at least moderate heat stress, making routine outdoor and manual work increasingly unsafe. 

• Extreme heat cost India 181 billion potential labour hours, translating into ₹13 lakh crore in income losses (Lancet, 2024). 

• 92% of Indian women in paid employment work in the informal sector, where wage loss is immediate and uncompensated. 

• Global evidence shows stark gender disparities: each 1°C increase in long-term average temperature is associated with a 34% decline in income for female-headed households, relative to male-headed households (FAO, 2024). 

• Surveys report 97% of informal women workers experience income loss during peak summer months, often losing 20–25% of daily earnings due to reduced productivity. 

Climate Change Context 

Rising Arctic temperatures, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification, weaken the normal temperature difference between the poles and lower latitudes. This can alter large-scale atmospheric circulation, including the strength and position of the jet stream and associated wave patterns, which in turn increases the likelihood of persistent and extreme heat events in mid-latitude regions such as South Asia. Research shows that interactions between Arctic warming and mid-latitude atmospheric circulation are linked to more prolonged hot and dry conditions, though the exact dynamic pathways remain an active area of study in climate science. 

Health and Socioeconomic implications 

• Increased heat stress, dehydration, and chronic illness 

• Direct wage loss with no safety net 

• Compounded unpaid care and domestic work 

• Higher poverty risk for female-headed households 

• Long-term impacts on nutrition, education, and wellbeing 

Urgent response needed 

• Integrate income protection measures, including paid heat leave and cash compensation, into Heat Action Plans 

• Ensure Heat Action Plans are legally backed, adequately funded, and locally enforceable 

• Expand early warning systems  

• Invest in cooling and shading infrastructure for outdoor, home-based, and informal workplaces 

• Mandate gender-disaggregated data collection on heat exposure, productivity loss, and income impacts 

• Recognize extreme heat as an occupational hazard within labour and public health frameworks 

Read more about extreme weather here. 

Subscribe to our Climate Alert Bulletin for biweekly updates on how global climate risks impact you.