Context: Disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women calls for an urgent policy response.
Widening gender gap: Takeaways from “State of Working India 2021: One Year of Covid-19”.
Precarious situation before pandemic: Only 18% of working-age women were employed as compared to 75% of men.
Disproportionate impact of lockdown: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data shows, 61% of male workers were unaffected during lockdown while only 19% of women experienced this kind of security.
Gender barriers in returning to work: Even by the end of 2020, 47% of employed women who had lost jobs during the lockdown had not returned to work, whereas for men, it was only 7%.
Women have fewer fallback options: 33% of formal salaried men moved into self-employment and 9% into daily wage work; in contrast, only 4% and 3% of formal salaried women moved into self-employment and daily wage work, respectively
Withdrawal from the workforce: Nearly half of the women workers, irrespective of whether they were salaried, casual, or self-employed, withdrew from the workforce, as compared to only 11% of men.
Low wages: Women were more likely to enter as daily wage workers (average salary ?7,965) while men found avenues for self-employment (average salary ?12,955/pm).
Disproportionate work losses:
In the education sector, 20 out of 100 workers were women, while amongst those who lost work, 70 out of 100 were women.
In the health sector, 40 out of 100 workers were women, while of the 100 in this sector who lost work, 80 were women.
Growing domestic work: For women, the number of hours spent in domestic work increased.
In February-March 2020, 10%-20% of women reported spending between two to four hours on domestic work; this share increased to 50% by September 2020.
Way forward
Expand Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA): Introduce an urban employment guarantee program targeting women.
Co-ordinated efforts by States:To facilitate the employment of women while also addressing immediate needs through setting up of community kitchens, prioritising opening of schools and Anganwadi centres, and engagement with self-help groups for the production of personal protective equipment kits.
Introduce a COVID-19 hardship allowance: Of at least ?5,000 per month for six months for 2.5 million accredited social health activists and Anganwadi workers, most of whom are women.
Rework National Employment Policy:Systematically address constraints around participation of women in the workforce, both with respect to the availability of work and household responsibilities.
Investment in social infrastructure: Imagine a bold universal basic services programme that expands public investments in health, education, child and elderly care to be prepared for future shocks.