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Predominantly Self Employed

Published: Mint dated 3rd May 2010

This is the 20th in a 33-

part series on distinct

consumer segments,

based on a categorization

of stage of life andoccupation, expenditure

and savings propensity,

family structure and

psychographics. This

week we look at E5--

school-educated, marriedwith young children.

Indicus Consumer Segment

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Indicus Consumer Segment

This week we take up the E5 segment²households where the chief wage earner is

school-educated and in the middle years, and married with young children. When it

comes to family structure, there is a distinction in this segment²it includes

businessmen living in joint or nuclear families and skilled workers in nuclear families.Households where the chief wage earners are skilled workers but stay in a joint

family show separate characteristics from those who stay in nuclear families; these

households form a unique segment F3, which will be taken up later. Put in another 

way, given the same educational qualifications and life stage, skilled workers who

stay in nuclear families share the same characteristics as businessmen²a pointer 

to the common aspirational level and independent mindset of the chief wage earners

in these groups.

E5

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Indicus Consumer Segment

E5 is the third largest urban consumer segment in terms of household

strength and fourth largest in terms of population, comprising 8.7% of the

urban population²there are 2.85 million people in the 694,000 households

in this segment.Given their low educational achievements²41% of the chief wage earners

have the highest qualification of finishing school²incomes are low. Median

household income is Rs1.03 lakh and 85% of the households earn less

than Rs3 lakh a year.

Household size is generally higher in this segment²72% having three or 

four members²compared with the E segments taken up so far. There is

variation here, too, and in the smaller towns, household sizes are larger,exceeding five in Alwar, Aligarh, Gwalior, Purbi Singhbhum, Bhagalpur,

Indore, Bikaner and Kanpur Nagar.

The higher household size is thanks to the young children²most

households have one or two minors; only 25% have more than two

children. This is an urban trend, to have smaller families, even in relatively

lower income groups. Clearly, parents are aiming to give their children a

better life than they have had and this includes not just clothing and feedingthem better with the latest market offerings, but also raising their education

standards, sending them to English-medium private schools, providing for 

tuition classes, etc. Households spend on an average 3.9% of their budget

on educational expenses.

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Indicus Consumer Segment

Chief wage earners in this segment are predominantly

self-employed, yet 42% have salaried jobs. Again here, the

presence of children makes for a greater need for regular 

income; there would be some in this group who may havetried their hand at being a small entrepreneur but have

failed in their younger years. Now older in age, with more

family commitments, stability is more important; this is,

after all, the middle years segment²43% of the chief 

wage earners are in the 35-44 year age group, the highest

share among all the E segments.

The dominant sector of employment is wholesale andretail trade, comprising a 26% share, a sector that offers

ample opportunity for those with low skills or business

aspirations. Manufacturing is a close second at 24%,

transport and communication take up 14%, while

construction and real estate-related activities, 11%.

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Indicus Consumer Segment

Businesses would be essentially small

enterprises, while those in salaried jobs would

be working mainly in private proprietorship

companies. Around 11% do have jobs with

the government or public sector companies,while 7% have jobs with private limited

companies. Among the latter, given the low

educational qualifications, the jobs would be

at the lowest rungs in different departments.

Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Thane, Pune,

Chennai, Ahmedabad, North 24 Parganas,Kolkata, Coimbatore are the urban districts

with more than 100,000 households in the E5

segment.