The price of Pandemic is being paid by Women

Context: While the pandemic has resulted in widespread job losses across multiple sectors, women whose participation in the workforce was already on the slide have been particularly hit.

Impact of Pandemic on Women

• Falling Participation of Women: Work participation rate for women (WPR) fell from 9.15% in December 2019 to 5.8% in August this year (WPR for men declined from 67% to 47% during this period).
• Despite falling fertility rates and significant improvement in education levels among women, female labour force participation rate fell sharply from 31% in 2011-12 to 23% in 2017-18.
• Impact on collective growth and prosperity: Since a large chunk of a young nation’s population doesn’t participate in economically productive wage-earning work.
• Nearly two-thirds of India’s working women were out of work in April.
• Sharpening of the gender divide in the workforce: Sectors such as education, retail and services like domestic work have been especially hit have made matters worse.
• Spike in child marriages and trafficking: coupled with a rise in domestic violence.
• Erodes gender equity parameters within the family: As women move back to unpaid household labour, poorer families may neglect the importance of investing in the girl child.
• Rising informalization: Women are engaged in precarious work, and they often respond (to shocks) by withdrawing from the labour force.
• Time use survey by the government showed that women spend 84% of their working hours in unpaid activities like domestic work, while men spend 80% of working hours on paid work.

Reasons for fall in Women Participation:

• Low expenditure on health and education: Families under economic stress, would spend the limited resources on educating and overall growth of boy rather than daughter resulting in low skill levels.

• Male Preference in jobs: During limited availability of jobs such as during current pandemic, most of the jobs go to men.
• Unfavourable working environment: Uncertain job environment and lack of transportation become a major hurdle for participation.
• Biased social and gender norms: coupled with the higher burden of household work for women act as a barrier.
• Low availability of jobs, which allow women to balance household responsibilities or jobs which are closer home.
• Early marriages: Women are considered as a liability; therefore, during economic stress, they are being married at an early age.

• For E.g. Nearly 200,000 more girls are at the risk of child marriage in South Asia in 2020, Save the Children said in its latest Global Girlhood report.

Way Forward: 

• Delayed marriage: Revising the age at marriage for girls may bring some positive changes by delaying childbirth and allowing girls to stay longer at school.
• Recognize and register women formally: Reduce the gender pay gap and expand the scope of childcare support in the informal sector (by revamping the ICDS scheme).

Conclusion: The contribution of women as primary caregivers during a pandemic was absolutely critical to our survival as a society. It’s time we recognize and celebrate it.