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The categorization of consumers by life stage and socio-economic classification (SEC) of the chief wage

earners of households creates small seg- ments with definite characteristics. There are around 1.2 million

households in ur- ban India whose chief wage earners are in their younger years (the majority are less than

35 years of age), single or married, but without children, and whose occupa- tional profile is skilled worker.The SEC C segment, where the chief wage earner is a skilled worker and educational qualifica- tion limited

largely to school, comprises a little more than 20% of the urban house- holds in India.

Households with chief wage earners in

their younger years form a little more

than 10% of this segment and

household sizes are for most part

small--three-quarters of thehouseholds in this segment have just

one or two members. Given the low

edu- cational profile, small household

size and the fact that the chief wage

earner is on the early steps of the

career ladder, house- hold incomes

are usually less than `3 lakh per

annum. There are only a few house-holds where income exceeds `10 lakh

per annum and these are concentrated

in Mumbai, Delhi and Thane. North 24

Par- ganas, Bangalore, Pune and

Lucknow are other districts whose

urban areas offer good scope for

young skilled workers to earn in higher

income brackets.

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Though the chief wage earners are mostly those who have finished higher secondary school, there are some

who have attended college for basic degrees as well. Most of the skilled workers in India have not undergone

formal training in vocational institutes, they have learnt from family or in small businesses. Whatever their

educational qualifications, it is clear that these households will give all possible support to ensure their children,

the next generation, complete school and college as well.

The majority of chief wage earners have regular salaried jobs, less than a quarter have struck it out on their

own. It is, of course, in smaller towns that the share of self-employed is larger than in cities, where jobs are

more easily had. Around 20% of the chief wage earners have jobs in government or large private companies,

indicating the opportunities available for those with skills. The main sector for employment here is

manufacturing, followed by trade, public administration and trans- port and communication.

In this segment, households with senior citizens are very few and would be joint families, the consumption

pattern would therefore be dictated by the chief wage earner who would be saving for a large family when

children arrive on the scene.

Most of the households live in rented houses and penetration of consumer durables is also low for high-ticket

goods such as cars and microwaves.

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These households first pick up two- wheelers and, of course, TV sets are al- most ubiquitous in

urban households. Naturally, media penetration is highest through TV, and, interestingly, time

spent on the Internet is more than on newspa- pers, with the radio coming a distant third. The

presence of Internet cafes in all small towns and every locality of large metros is a pointer tothis demand com- ing in from the younger set, who surf the Net for entertainment, news and

jobs.

Another highlight of the

consumer du- rable demand is

that two-wheeler pene- tration

is highest in the smallesttowns, where public transport

may not be a good and

convenient option. Towns such

as Erode, Hisar, Dibrugarh and

Rajkot have high two-wheeler

penetration in this seg- ment.

Towns such as these are foundall across the country, pointing

to the wide- spread demand in

urban India.

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