Extreme Heat Costs Poorest Workers Their Health and Wages

When summer heat pushes temperatures past 45 degrees Celsius (113°F) in cities across Asia, millions of poor workers cannot simply stay home to stay safe. These workers — called informal workers because they are paid by the day and have no formal contracts — must keep working or lose the money their families depend on. A growing number of researchers say that rising temperatures caused by climate change are hitting these workers the hardest, damaging both their health and their earnings. Their stories reveal a crisis that is quietly growing in cities across India, the Philippines, and beyond.

Brijpal Singh, 51, works construction in Noida, a large industrial city near India's capital. Even when temperatures soar past 45°C, work on the building site rarely stops. By the end of his shift, Singh says his heart is pounding and he feels dizzy and dehydrated. Still, he cannot afford to take a day off, since missing work means losing his daily wage of about $6 to $7. That money supports his wife and three children, who live in a village two days away.

"There are days when I don't feel like working," Singh said. "But if I miss a day, who will take care of my children and pay for their expenses?" Singh is far from alone. Around 5 million people work in the Delhi region's informal economy, making up about 80% of all workers there. As climate change pushes temperatures higher, more and more day-wage workers face this same impossible trade-off between their family's finances and their own health.

Heat is also making workers less productive and poorer. The past decade has been India's warmest on record, bringing more frequent and longer heat waves. One study found that rising temperatures could be costing informal workers the equivalent of 2% of their country's GDP — nearly $80 billion — every year. Researcher Ameena Kidwai of People's Courage International said tasks that once took eight hours can now take 10 to 12 hours during the hottest months. "Wage losses are only going to worsen as temperatures continue to rise," she said.

The health effects are serious and wide-ranging. Workers described suffering from breathing problems, stomach illnesses, stroke, and kidney disease. On top of that, they must spend more of their limited money on medicines and doctor visits. These extra costs pile onto already stretched budgets, making it even harder for families to get by.

For many workers, the suffering doesn't stop when the workday ends. Singh returns to a single room with poor ventilation after his shift. During the hottest months — April through June — the room becomes like a furnace, and frequent power cuts make it hard to cool down. "During the hot days, I can't eat well," he said. "I often drink oral rehydration solution and go to bed without eating." Oral rehydration solution is a drink with water, salt, and sugar that helps replace fluids lost through sweating.

Researchers say the inability to recover at home is a defining problem for informal workers in cities. Patricia Samantha Narvaez, a program manager at the Philippine development organization IDEALS, said many workers are migrants who live in crowded neighborhoods. These neighborhoods often have poor airflow, little green space, and lots of heat-absorbing concrete. "You would expect home to be a place of relief," Narvaez said. "But many live in densely packed neighborhoods with poor ventilation, little green space and heat-absorbing concrete."

Women are hit especially hard by extreme heat. Because women make up a large share of the world's poorest people, the economic effects of climate change fall on them most heavily. Women in the informal economy also do unpaid caregiving at home — looking after children and elderly family members — on top of their paid work. When a heat wave strikes, women are often the ones who stay home when schools close or family members fall ill, losing even more wages. Disrupted sleep from hot nights and long caregiving duties also raise health risks like heart disease and diabetes.

Shanti Devi, a 36-year-old daily wage laborer in Noida, has been her family's only earner since her husband was injured in a workplace accident. She has to manage the house, care for her four children, and still try to earn a living. During heat waves, school closures force her to stay home, adding to the family's financial strain. Each lost day of work makes her family's situation harder.

Experts say cities need to do much more to protect informal workers from heat. India has introduced heat action plans, and Quezon City in the Philippines is developing its own measures, but protections for informal workers are still limited and unevenly enforced. Researchers warn that short-term fixes are not enough, and that the realities of informal workers' lives are often overlooked. "Ultimately, resilient cities cannot be built on exhausted and unprotected workers," Narvaez said.