F. Kennedy School of Government. Several studies are co-authored by SEWA and WIEGO. Social platform To counter the perception that Indian women are most useful in the household, SEWA makes visible the crafts, skills, and value of female labour to the Indian economy. More than the Indian economy, self-employed women have a role in social hemispheres with few outlets to participate—SEWA works to bridge that gap by acting as a platform for civic engagement in local communities. Goals SEWA's main goals are to organize women workers for full employment and self-reliance. SEWA aims to mainstream marginalized, poor women in the informal sector and lift them out of their poverty. Their members have the possibility to take care of their children and their elderly while they can generate earnings for the family unit. Also, they produce low cost goods for the domestic and global markets. So, they allow low-income people to have the chance to purchase low cost goods and services. SEWA has interacted and has been advised by many law firms like HSA. Employment SEWA Mahila Housing Trust, founded by Renana Jhabvala among others, created the Karmika School for Construction Workers in 2003 to help train women in the construction trades. Women made up 51 percent of employees in construction trades in India in 2003, but most women in the construction industry had been unskilled labourers. After training at Karmika, according to a 2007 survey of graduates, 40 percent reported working 21–30 days per month as opposed to 26 percent who reported similar work days before training. 30 percent became helpers to masons, and 20 percent became masons themselves. These increases come mostly from small private construction projects, such as housing, but there was very little success placing women in the more profitable public sector infrastructure projects. SEWA's childcare cooperatives in Sangini and Shaishav, have helped more than 400 women get regular work as providers of childcare. Income In 1994, members' earnings were Rs 39 million for 32,794 women (about Rs 1200 average). By 1998, members' average earnings had risen to Rs 304.5 million for 49,398 women (about Rs 6164 average). This is from aggregate numbers including urban and rural workers. Most of this increase occurred in urban areas. SEWA has had more difficulty pushing for higher wages in rural areas, due to the excess supply of labour in those regions, which weakens the bargaining position of women. In the