Article from the Wall Street Journal, dated November 17, 2007:  Moving Up in Mumbai

Subtitle:  A Job at the Mall Lifts Young Indians Out of Poverty

The article talks about young workers from the slums, who previously worked in garment factories for less than $50 a month, now making $1,600 a year, in the Indian equivalent of a Gap store. These are not the educated engineers or even the call center workers that most people associate with the rising tide in India. Which the article says is less than 0.2% of India’s 1.1 billion population.

These are people who have less than a high school education, are part of the poverty class, living in 100 square foot hovels.  They can now can get jobs that pay more than twice what they could make in the past. Folding clothes. Ringing up purchases. Giving advice on the newest fashions. All because a small percentage of the population now has more disposable income.

I took economics in college many years ago and it amazes me to see how it works in real life.  In my conversation with Sylvia Acevedo last month, she discussed how giving more people the chance at higher paying jobs, even jobs that paid $10 more per hour, helps everyone. She’s right.