Ways of being paid

Kavya was excited to visit her aunt in the village of Kamlapur. On the way she saw a highway being built near the village. The construction site was busy, with big machines like excavators and bulldozers run by skilled technicians.

The new highway would cut the travel time to the nearest town from five hours to just two hours: three hours saved on every journey, for everyone who uses it.

Kavya's uncle is a technician in a construction company and operates a bulldozer. He is paid a monthly salary for his work.

The next day, Kavya's aunt got up early, finished her share of the housework and left for work. She works at the village post office and is paid a monthly salary. In the evening, after office, she also teaches online classes to help students prepare for school exams, and charges a weekly fee for them. So she earns in two ways in one day: a salary from her employer, and a fee from the students she teaches. (You pay a fee in the same way to a doctor who treats you or a tuition teacher.)

At the weekend, Kavya went with her aunt to a local mango orchard. There she saw Sahil, a farm labourer, ploughing a farmer's land with a tractor. He earns a daily wage for his work, just as labourers building a house are often paid for each day they work.

Sahil gets part of his pay in cash and the rest in mangoes of equal value. The mangoes he receives for his work are called payment in kind.

• A wage is a payment by the employer to the worker for a specific period of time (such as a day).
• Payment in kind is a non-cash payment received for work done.

Sahil's mangoes are still payment, so his work is still an economic activity.