Precarity in a time of uncertainty: gendered employment patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown in India
Open accessAbstract
India implemented one of the world’s most stringent lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 crisis. This study examines whether the impacts of the lockdown on employment differed by gender in areas surrounding Delhi. An ongoing monthly employment survey between March 2019 and May 2020 allows for comparison before and after lockdown. Estimates based on random-effects logistic regression models show that for men, the predicted probability of employment declined from 0.88 to 0.57, while for women it fell from 0.34 to 0.22. Women’s concentration in self-employment may be one reason why their employment was somewhat protected. However, when looking only at wage workers, the study finds that women experienced greater job losses than men with predicted probability of employment declining by 72 percent for women compared to 40 percent for men. The findings highlight the gendered impacts of macro crises and inform policy considerations through ongoing phases of lockdowns and relaxation.HIGHLIGHTSOngoing survey data reveals gendered changes in employment before and during India’s pandemic lockdown.Results show substantial decline in employment for men and women during the lockdown period.Absolute decline in employment was larger for men than for women.However, broad comparisons mask gender differences in impact on different industries and occupations.Comparing only wage workers, employment decline was far greater for women than for men.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused higher unemployment rates and lower income.
“the COVID-19 pandemic has caused higher unemployment rates and lower income. Evidence from the United States, Sweden, India, and Korea show that COVID-19 negatively affected the labor force participation rate, working hours, and residents’ income, bringing about a significant increase in unemployment (Aum et al., 2021; Desai et al., 2021; Hensvik et al., 2021).”
From COVID-19 pandemic and adolescent mental health in China: Micro evidence and socioeconomic mechanisms (2022) · cites this paper as Desai et al., 2021
The paper’s “Trends in Employment during the Lockdown” section reports a significant decline in work participation in areas around Delhi, supporting the claim of an employment decline in India. Its “Implications” section discusses likely consequences for income, but the paper does not report measured declines in residents’ income or working hours. The findings also do not establish a pandemic-wide unemployment rate. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Desai, S., Deshmukh, N., & Pramanik, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- National Council of Applied Economic Research (IN)
- Venue
- Feminist Economics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-03-01
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 152-172
- ISSN
- 1354-5701 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4372
- PMC
- PMC9417195
- OpenAlex
- W3133851079
- Semantic Scholar
- 22bbe8b0a7f9fd7581a768fb3514ce8f2cb98fe5
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 16.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Feminist Economics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-003352,INV-009903,INV-010337)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- COVID-19 lockdown, gendered employment, job loss, women's employment, self-employment, wage workers, precarious employment, macroeconomic crisis, India, Delhi
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