The Daily Brief The stitch that doesn't hold
Dec 24, 2025
Dive into the world of custom tailoring in India, where informal tailors thrive despite challenges. Learn how their growth has been influenced by export-oriented factories and evolving gender dynamics, with more women joining the trade. Discover the intricate issues surrounding GDP measurement, including why tailoring is classified as a service. Explore the complexities of economic data and the upcoming statistical reforms aimed at enhancing accuracy in India’s economic indicators. Get ready for an engaging discussion filled with intriguing insights!
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Tailors Inflate Manufacturing Employment
- India added millions of manufacturing jobs but many are low-productivity custom tailors, not factory workers.
- Tailors count as manufacturing employment but often add no manufacturing value in national accounts.
Tailoring As A Fallback Job
- Tailoring is a fallback occupation with very low barriers to entry and low earnings for most practitioners.
- Eight in ten self-employed tailors earn around ₹6,000 monthly, reflecting underemployment rather than entrepreneurship.
Policy Shaped Informal Tailoring
- Policy choices historically encouraged small-scale garment production and penalized formal growth.
- Regulations and reservation of production kept tailors small, informal, and invisible to authorities.