Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences

The human hair processing and wig industry provides home-based employment to economically disadvantaged households in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal. This study examines the socioeconomic conditions of workers, the distribution of their monthly income and factors associated with earnings. Primary data were collected from 51 workers in sixteen villages across five community development blocks between May and July 2026. Information was obtained through structured interviews and observations and analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Of the surveyed workers, 37 (72.55%) were women, who participated mainly in the earlier stages of hair processing. The mean monthly income was Rs. 7,132.43 for women and Rs. 19,721.43 for men, compared with an overall mean of Rs. 10,588.24. More than half of the workers (50.98%) earned Rs. 5,000 or less per month, and income variation was considerable both between and within the female and male groups. The regression analysis indicated statistically significant associations between monthly income and workers' sex, higher educational attainment, purchase of production inputs, daily working hours and housing status. The findings suggest that the industry contributes to household livelihoods while substantial earnings disparities and constraints relating to finance and social protection remain. Improved access to institutional credit, skills training and collective organisation may help address these constraints. The findings should be interpreted cautiously because the sample was small and purposively selected.