Marginal Worker UPSC relevant
A marginal worker is a person who worked at some time during the year preceding enumeration but for less than six months (183 days) — typically seasonal agricultural labourers, casual workers and others with intermittent work.
Since Census 2011, marginal workers are sub-divided into those who worked less than three months and those who worked three months or more but less than six, a refinement announced by ORGI to capture the depth of underemployment. Marginal workers who are seeking or available for work are also tabulated, giving a census measure of partial unemployment. The main/marginal distinction will again structure the economic-activity block of the Census 2027 Household Schedule, allowing exact comparison of employment precarity between 2011 and 2027 at village level.