Beyond Access: Everyday Financial Lives of Sanitation Workers in Urban India

Abstract

In India’s expanding cities, sanitation workers often remain overlooked in both financial policy and social support. This study draws on the experiences of 10 sanitation workers from Dehradun and Haridwar to show how they manage money and deal with everyday uncertainty. Official claims of financial inclusion often contradict the real-life experiences of individuals, who are impacted by informal lending and ongoing responsibilities to meet their family's needs. The findings show that formal financial systems rarely respond to these conditions in practical ways. Instead, workers rely on social ties and everyday judgment to cope with financial pressure. These experiences challenge the assumption that access to a bank account ensures security. For social work and policy, paying attention to how sanitation workers actually organise their financial lives is essential for more grounded and equitable forms of intervention.