Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India 3030853349, 9783030853341

Citation preview

Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India Edited by Irene George · Moly Kuruvilla

Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India

Irene George  •  Moly Kuruvilla Editors

Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India

Editors Irene George Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies Sharjah Academic City United Arab Emirates

Moly Kuruvilla Department of Women’s Studies University of Calicut Kerala, India

ISBN 978-3-030-85334-1    ISBN 978-3-030-85335-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85335-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Alex Linch/shutterstock.com This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

Nations across the globe have been making rapid strides of progress in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals since their formulation in 2015. The fifth sustainable goal on gender equality was especially derailed from achieving due to the unprecedented outbreak of a tiny but fatal virus. The supreme battle with the Covid-19 virus has rendered the world with the largest health crisis that has turned out to be the most threatening challenge to humanity with its implications on every aspect of safety, sustenance and survival. Because of their specific social positioning, women in India are disproportionately affected by the pandemic than their counterparts. This book focuses on the Covid-19 experiences of Indian women belonging to various walks of life and at multiple levels of socio-­ economic status. The Indian women already entrapped in the vicious circle of poverty, hunger, joblessness, landlessness and sexual violence have become inevitably further traumatised during the pandemic. The resources that they had squirrelled away for a rainy day had been exhausted after a prolonged shutdown of economic activity across the country, nay across the globe. Whatever little they had saved got used up; whatever small jobs they held are lost and the power they gained within homes vanished. The subjective feelings of women analysed through a gender perspective and that too with an intersectional approach generate insights into the gender dimensions of Covid-19 in India. This book is a compendium of research based on rapid assessment surveys, micro studies and review of credible reports on women’s lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. A solid understanding of women’s plight during v

vi 

Preface

the lockdowns has facilitated recommendations for gender-responsive policies and programmes in every sphere of women’s lives that the Covid-19 has negatively impacted. The experiences narrated by the heterogeneous group of women subjects reflect the hope over despair and the determination to fight rather than give in. The push that they need from various corners including the government agencies is highlighted in the book. Both short-term and long-term policies that foster the attainment of sustainable development goals are proposed for ‘the decade of action’. Sharjah, UAE Kerala, India

Irene George Moly Kuruvilla

Acknowledgements

The book ‘Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India’ was conceived, developed and published during the Covid-19 pandemic period. At the outset, we are grateful to Palgrave Macmillan for encouraging and supporting us in bringing out such a scholarly work. We appreciate and acknowledge the untiring efforts of all the contributing authors who have taken much pain in the data collection during the time of lockdowns. Amidst the waves of the pandemic, there were several hardships to meet the sample residing in dispersed locations. Usually, the pandemic time is considered a less productive period for researchers, but this book is a testimony to the willpower and dedication of the authors, the majority of whom are women. We are incredibly indebted to all the women respondents like frontline health workers, migrant women, elderly women, transgender persons, women academics, housewives and students in higher education who spent their valuable time and participated with patience in the surveys and interviews conducted by the contributing authors. We want to thank the members of the editorial committee consisting of Jaya Dantas, Professor of International Health, Curtin School of Population Health, Australia; and Pauline Stoltz, Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Denmark; and other reviewers who have made significant contributions to enhance the quality of the book.

vii

viii 

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support extended by the University of Calicut in the completion of this book project. We would also like to place on record our gratitude to all the academics across the country who facilitated the outreach to samples in every nook and corner of India.

Contents

1 Introduction: Gender Dimensions of COVID-19  1 Irene George and Moly Kuruvilla 2 The Pandemic Crisis and Economic Engagement of Women: A Historical Enquiry on Implications of Catastrophes on Female Economic Participation 37 Bindu Balagopal and Chacko Jose P. 3 Labour Force Participation and Economic Challenges for Women in Post-COVID India 57 Manisha Karne and Malini Sharma 4 The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Case of Anganwadi and ASHA Workers with Special Reference to Maharashtra 77 Suchita Krishnaprasad 5 The Bane and the Boon of ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’: Impact of COVID-19 on Self-Employed and Home-Based Women Entrepreneurs101 Khevana Desai

ix

x 

Contents

6 The Plight of Migrant Women Workers of India During COVID-19: Looking at ‘Ghar Wapsi’ Through a Gender Lens117 Yamini Virginia John and Moly Kuruvilla 7 COVID-19: Gendered Experiences of Healthcare Workers in Kerala, India145 Sreedevi C. and Jayasree A. K. 8 From Conventional Classrooms to Online Platforms: Experiences of Women Students and Faculties in Indian Higher Education During COVID-19 Pandemic167 Irene George and Moly Kuruvilla 9 Mental Health and Well-Being in Assam During COVID-19 Pandemic: Critical Understanding of Its Gender Dimensions195 Polly Vauquline 10 Perinatal Depression During COVID-19 Pandemic: Need to Introduce Perinatal Mental Health Services Under Indian Reproductive Health Rights Framework221 Ritika Behl 11 Quality of Life of Elderly Women in Kolkata During COVID-19 Pandemic245 Saheli Guha Neogi Ghatak 12 Lived Realities of Transgender Persons in Kerala During COVID-19 Pandemic267 Aneesh M. S. and Jilly John 13 Cybercrimes Against Indian Women: Before and During COVID-19285 Vinod Polpaya Bhattathiripad

 Contents 

xi

14 Gender Equality in the Criminal Justice System of India: A Few Proactive Steps Taken by the Kerala Police Before and During COVID-19305 Sandhya B. 15 COVID-19 Management and Women’s Political Leadership: Lessons for India325 Pallavi Sinha Das 16 Gender Responsive Policies for the ‘Decade of Action’343 Irene George and Moly Kuruvilla Index365

Notes on Contributors

Aneesh M. S.  has his PhD on the topic, ‘Psychosocial Profile and Life Experiences of Homosexual Men in Kerala’ from the Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod. He is Assistant Professor of Social Work at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Regional Centre Thuravoor, Alappuzha, Kerala. He has several international publications to his credit and presents widely on transgender rights. Bindu  Balagopal is Associate Professor of Economics at Government Victoria College, Palakkad, Kerala, India. She has 26 years of experience in teaching economics at the postgraduate level and has guided several postgraduate research projects. Her research work in the economics of the music industry is pioneering. She has several research papers and conference presentations to her credit. She writes poetry in English and Malayalam and has published an anthology in English. She also does translations of literary works. Ritika Behl  is Assistant Professor at Alliance University, Bengaluru. She has a decade’s long experience of teaching undergraduate and postgraduate law students. She is registered as a Ph.D. scholar at Symbiosis International University, Pune, India. Her research area is related to reproductive mental health and women rights. She has worked as a Research Assistant with Prof. Tamara Relis (Ph.D. from Columbia University) from the year 2006–2008; and undertook quality empirical research work for her book “Perceptions in Litigation and Mediation: Lawyers, Defendants, Plaintiffs and Gendered Parties.” Ritika has many international and national publications and presentations to her credit which are related to women and child rights. xiii

xiv 

Notes on Contributors

Chacko  Jose  P.  is Associate Professor of Economics at Sacred Heart College, Chalakudy, Kerala, India. He has served as Reader, UGC HRDC at the University of Calicut. He has been awarded the prestigious ‘Prof. M.M.  Ghani award for the best college teacher’ by the University of Calicut considering his contributions in his teaching career, spanning 27 years. His research contributions include research papers and edited books. He is a research supervisor in economics at the University of Calicut. Khevana Desai  is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Mithibai College of Arts, Mumbai since 2008. A Ph.D. in Gender Studies, she has also been a visiting faculty at Research Centre for Women’s Studies (SNDT Women’s University) and at NMIMS’s school of commerce and school of liberal arts, Mumbai. She has more than ten papers and review publications to her credit. Her areas of interests are reproductive health and sanitation, queer identity, gender-based violence and women in literature. She is also a writer, poet and translator in English, Gujarati and Hindi. Irene George  is an adjunct faculty at the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies, UAE. She received her Masters in Management Studies from Birla Institute of Management Technology, Delhi, and has studied at Neoma Business School, France, after her B.Tech degree. She has worked as Assistant Professor of Commerce and Management at Holy Cross College, Calicut, Kerala; as Assistant Manager at Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd, Mumbai; and as Recruitment Officer at Murdoch University, Dubai. She is the coeditor of the ‘Handbook of Research on Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment’ (IGI Global, California, June 2020). She presents and publishes widely on gender issues. Saheli Guha Neogi Ghatak  is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, School of Liberal Arts and Culture Studies at the Adamas University, Kolkata, India. She is an active researcher who has worked as a guest researcher at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research contributions include several conference presentations, research papers and an edited book. She is a research supervisor in sociology at Adamas University. She presents and chairs in international conferences in several countries. Jayasree  A K. is Professor and HOD of Community Medicine at Government Medical College, Kannur, Kerala, India. She has a fellowship in HIV Medicine from Christian Medical College, Vellore, Madras

  Notes on Contributors 

xv

University. She was Programme Manager, SAKSHAM (Strengthening Awareness, Knowledge, and Skill in HIV/AIDS Management) of CARE, India from 2004 to 2008. She has experience in gender activism of 35 years. She works for rights of sex workers, sexual minorities, transgender persons and mentally ill. She is in the forefront of Covid management in Kannur district, Kerala. Yamini Virginia John  is a research scholar who is currently pursuing her PhD on Property Rights of women in Kerala at University of Calicut. She holds a degree in History Hons from St Stephen’s College, Delhi. After a Masters in Women’s Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, she secured a fellowship with the institute on their M Ward Project which was a development and transformation study with one of the poorest economically and socially deprived wards in Mumbai. Her areas of interest include gender and ownership rights, women’s health and livelihood concerns, migration and urban planning. Jilly John  is Assistant Professor of Social Work at Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, India. She has 19 years of experience in teaching social work at the postgraduate level and has guided several postgraduate and PhD research projects. Her research areas are mental health, gender studies, child care and so on. She has publications in reputed journals and research paper presentations in national and international conferences. Manisha  Karne is Professor of Development Economics at Mumbai School of Economics and Public Policy. She has coordinated research projects for NIEPA, YASHDA, Planning Commission and Government of Maharashtra. She has contributed substantially to Human Development Report for Thane and Sangli districts in Maharashtra. She was closely associated with the evaluation of Direct Benefit Transfer to tribal residential schools in Maharashtra. She is also coordinating teaching and research at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Research Centre, University of Mumbai. Her area of research interest has been health economics and environmental economics. Suchita  Krishnaprasad served as a faculty in the Department of Economics, at Elphinstone College, Mumbai for 35  years. Her areas of interest are labour and development economics and industrial relations. She has presented and published several research papers at various national and international conferences. She has also contributed chapters to many edited volumes. She has worked as a trainer to empower trade union lead-

xvi 

Notes on Contributors

ers. Her work as consultant and an external collaborator to ILO has been in the area of social dialogue and mapping policy responses by the government towards relief and recovery in the context of Covid-19 in India. Moly  Kuruvilla is the Founding Director and Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Calicut, Kerala, India. She is the Editor of the ‘Handbook of Research on Gender Mainstreaming and Women Empowerment’ (IGI Global, California, June 2020). She is an advisor to the Asian-African Association for Women, Gender and Sexuality (AAAWGS). She has authored several books and 85 research publications. She was a core committee member and National Resource Person of the UGC National Consultative Committee for Capacity Building of Women Managers in Higher Education. With three decades of teaching, research and counselling experiences, she contributes immensely to the feminist scholarship. Vinod Polpaya Bhattathiripad  is an independent consultant in software engineering and cybercrime forensics ever since 1988. He is currently serving as Honorary Chief Technology Advisor to the State Police Chief, Kerala. His doctoral thesis is on the forensics of software copyright infringement. He is the author of the book ‘Judiciary-Friendly Forensics of Software Copyright Infringement’, published by IGI Global, Pennsylvania. He is a reviewer of several internationally acclaimed journals and delivers presentations on digital crime and forensics in conferences across the world. Sandhya B.  is an officer of the Indian Police Service, presently posted as Director General, Kerala Fire and Rescue Services, Home Guard & Civil Defence. She has 30 years of experience in handling issues related to gender-based violence and managing the criminal justice system. She has worked in almost every branch of policing. She is a PhD in Criminal Justice from BITS Pilani, India. She has worked as Director, Kerala Police Academy, and has published several scholarly articles and books. Malini Sharma  is assistant professor in the Department of Economics at Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. She is also a Ph.D. scholar at the Mumbai School of Economics and Public Policy, University of Mumbai. She has dedicated 26 years to teaching and research. She has authored several papers on wide-ranging topics such as Intersection of microcredit participation and health status of women with reference to urban areas of Delhi; Economic empowerment of women and impact of demonetisation on microcredit participation of self-help groups, and so on. She has also presented papers on topical issues of the Indian economy

  Notes on Contributors 

xvii

Pallavi  Sinha  Das is Associate Professor of Public Administration in Adamas University, Kolkata. Her PhD on Women Empowerment in India with special reference to north and south Delhi was taken from Punjab University. She has numerous publications to her credit. Her area of specialisation includes women empowerment, rural and urban development, and sustainable development. She has presented several papers in national and international seminars. Sreedevi  C. is assistant professor in the Department of Community Medicine at Government Medical College, Palakkad, Kerala, India. She has six years of experience in teaching. She has several research papers on public health related areas and conference presentations to her credit. She is in the forefront of Covid management in Palakkad district, Kerala. Polly  Vauquline is a Professor of Women’s Studies at the Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam. She has 22 years of experience of teaching at postgraduate level and has several PhD scholars under her supervision. She was awarded the Gender, Place and Culture Award 2009, for new and emerging scholars, by Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Presently she is engaged in a collaborative research project with UN Women, Unilever and McLeod Russel on Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls Programme in the Tea Estates of Assam.

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.3 Fig. 1.4 Fig. 1.5 Fig. 1.6 Fig. 1.7 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 8.1 Fig. 9.1 Fig. 9.2 Fig. 9.3 Fig. 9.4 Fig. 9.5 Fig. 9.6

Covid-19 infection and death rates—global situation (as on 30 June 2021). (Source: WHO, 2021) Internet gender gap across countries. (Source: ITU, 2020) Covid-19 infection and death rates—India situation (as on 30 June 2021). (Source: WHO, 2021) Women’s ownership of property in comparison to men in India. (Source: National Family Health Survey [NFHS-4]) Labour force participation of women in India. (Source: ILO STAT database, 2021) Women and men’s attitude towards wife-beating. (Source: National Family Health Survey [NFHS-4]) Decision-making power of women in Indian homes. (Source: National Family Health Survey [NFHS-4]) Female labour force participation rate for BRICS nations in 2020. (Source: World Bank data) Female literacy rate and employment conditions. (Source: Computed based on the data from Census 2011 and PLFS survey 2018–19) Gender difference in the means to access online classes. (Source: Primary data) Gender and nervousness level. (Source: Primary data) Gender, stress and anxiety. (Source: Primary data) Gender, fear and worries. (Source: Primary data) Gender, positivity and hopefulness. (Source: Primary data) Gender and sleeping experience. (Source: Primary data) Gender and worries about financial condition. (Source: Primary data)

3 7 15 17 18 22 23 66 67 176 201 202 203 204 204 205 xix

xx 

List of Figures

Fig. 9.7 Fig. 9.8 Fig. 9.9 Fig. 9.10 Fig. 9.11 Fig. 9.12 Fig. 9.13 Fig. 10.1 Fig. 15.1

Gender and anxiety—traumatic experiences. (Source: Primary data)206 Gender and worries about falling sick. (Source: Primary data) 207 Gender and worries about the scarcity of food. (Source: Primary data) 208 Gender and worries about violence at home. (Source: Primary data)209 Gender and worries about studies. (Source: Primary data) 209 Gender and worries about online classes. (Source: Primary data)210 Gender and worries about future careers. (Source: Primary data)211 Disruption of reproductive and child health services across countries. (Source: WHO Interim report, 27 August 2020) 225 UN Women Report on Covid cases in women- and men-led countries. (Source: UN Women Report: Covid-19 and women leadership, July 2020) 328

List of Tables

Table 1.1 Table 3.1

Gender gap in India as per the sub-indices-2021 16 Comparison of FLFPR during Covid and pre-Covid periods in 162 countries 62 Table 3.2 Fatality rate due to Covid-19 and FLFPR in selected states of India67 Table 3.3 Percentage of female employees working on adverse terms in selected states in India 69 Table 4.1 Rates of honorarium for AWWs and AWHs in selected states in India (Figures in Rs) 83 Table 4.2 Responses to the questionnaire in Stage I 88 Table 4.3 Responses to the questionnaire in Stage II 91 Table 6.1 Thematic analysis—data structure 122 Table 7.1 Important themes emerged during analysis 149 Table 8.1 Gender digital divide in higher education 176 Table 8.2 Household responsibilities among women and men students in higher education 177 Table 8.3 Major reasons for not preferring online education 178 Table 8.4 Major reasons for the lack of effectiveness of online classes 179 Table 8.5 Challenges faced by women academics while handling online classes180 Table 8.6 Women academics—reasons for preferring online classes 183 Table 8.7 Women academics—reasons for not preferring online classes 184 Table 8.8 Suggestions to improve the effectiveness of online classes 186 Table 10.1 Themes on perinatal mental health used for analysis 224 Table 11.1 Demographic profile of the elderly women sample 250 Table 11.2 Physical problems of elderly women 252 Table 11.3 Economic issues of elderly women 254 xxi

xxii 

List of Tables

Table 11.4 Table 11.5 Table 11.6 Table 11.7 Table 11.8

Social problems of elderly women 256 Psychological problems of elderly women 258 Problems of elderly women related to technology usage 259 Other problems of elderly women 260 Quality of life of elderly women (WHOQOL-BREF scale score)260 Table 12.1 Socio-demographic profile of the respondents 273 Table 14.1 Crimes against women in India from 2017–19 308 Table 14.2 Crimes against women in Kerala, 2016–21 311 Table 14.3 Interventions by pink police patrol (July to December 2020) 312 Table 14.4 Mithra 181 women helpline service: call report from Mar–Oct 2020 314 Table 15.1 Representation of women in Lok Sabha 332 Table 15.2 Year-wise membership of women in Rajya Sabha 333

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Gender Dimensions of COVID-19 Irene George and Moly Kuruvilla

Introduction The world today is undergoing tectonic throes of the severe pandemic that has far-reaching disruptions unsettling almost all activities across the globe. Twenty-five years after the United Nations convened the Fourth World Conference on Women: Beijing Platform for Action, the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020, declared Covid-19 as a pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-­ CoV-­2). Covid-19 was first reported on 31 December 2019 and was found to cause respiratory illness, ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases resulting in death. People at the highest risks from Covid-19 belong to the vulnerable groups—the elderly, chronically ill and immune-­compromised people such as those with heart diseases, diabetes I. George Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies, Sharjah Academic City, United Arab Emirates e-mail: [email protected] M. Kuruvilla (*) Department of Women’s Studies, University of Calicut, Kerala, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 I. George, M. Kuruvilla (eds.), Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85335-8_1

1

2 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

and respiratory diseases. The virus spreads on close contact with infected people through respiratory particles or through fomites present in the environment around the infected person. In response, the WHO recommended airborne precautions where aerosol-generating procedures and support treatments are performed apart from frequent hand hygiene practices, environmental cleaning and disinfection. Archaeologists and anthropologists have identified archaeological locations in the ancient historical sites in China, in the erstwhile Roman Empire, present Istanbul, Mexico, Central America, and so on, which are considered as mass burial grounds. These sites are evidence of a series of epidemics and plagues in different periods in different parts of the globe, which changed the course of history from time to time. The most recent outbreaks are Spanish flu (1918–20), Asian flu (1957–58), H1N1 Swine flu (2009–10), West African Ebola epidemic (2014–16) and Zika virus epidemic (2015 till date). Therefore, Covid-19 of 2020 is not the first pandemic, nor will it be the last one. Pandemics cause massive fatalities and disruptions globally; for that reason, the Spanish flu a century ago had evoked awe in the scale of loss of lives in that period. The globe-trotting modern man has made the latest edition of the coronavirus a benchmark in the quantum of destruction in lives and livelihood due to the deep level of interconnectedness in all spheres of activities. The earlier pandemics like the Ebola epidemic, the SARS or the Swine flu did not have such large-scale devastating effects. While the Covid pandemic is wreaking havoc worldwide, people fall prey to social, economic and political exploitations. ‘The pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems which are in turn amplifying the impacts of the pandemic’ (United Nations, 2020a, p. 1). In the absence of 100% safe and effective vaccine and treatment information based on evidence, complete lockdown is being observed by several nations including high-income countries like the USA and low to middle-income countries like India. When writing this chapter in June 2021, the world is treading towards new equations, new speed, new values and new unknowns. The future that seemed to be sure and secure because of all the scientific advancements made by humanity in the last century is unknown and uncertain. The confidence level of human ability is at a crossroad where the knowledge and expertise of man is tested on the altar of time. As a result, decisions cannot be made in such a situation with any degree of certainty. Besides, endless questions remain as to whether the available vaccines will be 100% safe and effective, will the disease recur, will

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

3

the societies acquire herd immunity and what could be the post-Covid-19 problems awaiting those who survive the threats of upcoming waves of the pandemic. All the same, the pandemic is predicted to be there for many months to come, influencing and impacting lives and work. The global scenario of confirmed cases of Covid infection and the death rates during the first and second waves of the pandemic highlights the severity of the second wave in both number and fatalities compared to the first. The second wave is flattening in a few countries while the third wave has commenced in few others; the crisis may unfold with no end in sight. Governments across the globe are setting their preparedness to face the third wave with a still virulent delta plus Covid-19 variant (Fig. 1.1). The ongoing pandemic is still shaking the globe with its devastating effects in every nook and corner of the global village. Men and women of all ages have learned new styles of being and not being with each other. Terms like ‘social distancing’, ‘quarantine’, ‘Covid protocol’, ‘PPE kits’, ‘masks’ and ‘sanitisers’ turned out to be the buzzwords of the time. The pandemic-triggered lockdown has also led to new realisations, new thought patterns and new trends in food habits, healthcare, recreation, rituals of all kinds, whether related to birth, marriage or funeral and the interaction styles and social relations among people. Now the pandemic has necessitated the need for new approaches and perspectives in policymaking at regional, national and global contexts.

Fig. 1.1  Covid-19 infection and death rates—global situation (as on 30 June 2021). (Source: WHO, 2021)

4 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

This chapter provides an overall picture of the gender dimensions of the Covid-19 health crisis, focusing on its spillover effects on women’s labour force participation, unpaid care work, education, gender-based violence, mental health, sexual and reproductive health rights, and so on. Though this book is a documentation of the gendered experiences of Covid-19 in India, it is situated in an international context. In the globalised world, whatever happens in a country is interconnected and interdependent with the events in all other countries. Hence Section I of the chapter provides the global picture of gendered implications of Covid-19, and Section II details the specific situations in India.

Section I—Gender Dimensions of Covid-19: The Global Context When countries across the globe were making faster strides towards the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) set to be achieved by 2030, the outbreak of Covid-19 has been a heavy blow to the attainment of all goals, especially Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda on gender equality. As repeatedly assured, the virus is gender-neutral with regard to the rate of its infecting men and women, but the death toll is higher among men than women, which is attributed to the differences in their lifestyles like smoking habits (UK Research and Innovation, 2020) and biological reasons of the immune system (Klein & Flanagan, 2016). Started as a health crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the economies the world over, with women being the hardest hit everywhere. Several agencies have reported Covid-19 pandemic as the greatest setback to gender equality ever in history. The Global Gender Gap Report released on 30 March 2021 estimates that it will take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide. Covid-19 has exposed the existing gender inequalities in various spheres of life on one side and has deepened the gender gaps to a great extent on the other. Though the challenges women face can vary from country to country based on cultural, religious and sociopolitical factors, and based on their class, caste, religion, marital and employment status, the pandemic has revealed the vulnerabilities of women, transgender persons and other sexual minorities across the globe. Nevertheless, the novel coronavirus has also brought to the limelight the huge worth of women’s unpaid care work and the strength of women power. Still, the analyses with a gender perspective undertaken by the various authors in this book have served a lot in revealing the shocking,

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

5

threatening and painful experiences through which women across the world pass through during the pandemic. Though people have got used to the ‘new normal’ with a reduction in the panic levels, the sufferings and plight of women continue. About this global context Dugarova in her paper prepared for the UN expert group meeting on ‘Families in development’ opines: Women and girls, especially those with intersectional characteristics, are particularly disadvantaged during the crisis due to unequal structures, power relations and social norms that prevent them from accessing basic services, including healthcare and education, and participating in decision-making processes that affect their lives. Consequently, they face higher risks of falling into poverty, dropping out of schools, and experiencing hunger and malnutrition. (Dugarova, 2020, p.1)

Loss of Jobs and Loss of Income The  International Labour Organisation  (ILO) estimates that globally in 2020, women’s employment loss stood at 5% compared to 3.9% for men. In other words, 64 million women lost their jobs during the pandemic (ILO, 2021). Madgavkar et al. (2020) predict that women who make up 39% of the global employment would account for 54% of overall job losses. The resulting economic fallout has impacted the lives and livelihoods of people across the globe, with a disproportionate burden on women due to their unpaid care work at home. With a shrinking global economy and without measures to shield the most vulnerable, the number of people living in extreme poverty is estimated to increase by 96 million in 2021 (Azcona et al., 2020). Accordingly, women who already constituted a majority of the world’s poor are going to be further pushed into poverty and sufferings. As far as paid work is concerned, women are predominant in precarious, unsafe and stigmatised jobs in the form of frontline health workers, waste-pickers and domestic workers (Chakraborty, 2020). Often they do not even receive the minimum wages as stipulated by the government. Moreover, the nature of the work done by women workers in the informal sector is subject to informal arrangements. A majority of them are invisible and are more likely to bear the burden of job losses and wage cuts than men. ‘For every pound that a man can spend on necessities during this crisis, a woman can only spend 82 p’, says Mudhar, global chief executive and co-founder of ‘The World We Want’, an enterprise aimed at accelerating progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The

6 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

gender pay gap in countries across the globe also aggravates the economic conditions of women during the pandemic as they have few resources to fall back on should they lose their work. In the US, women earn 85% of what men earn. In Australia, it is 86%, while in India it is 75%. And this is worse for women of some races and ethnicities than others—in the US, for example, black women earn 21% less than white women (Henriques, 2020). Though women constitute 70% of the global health workers, at 28%, the gender pay gap in the health sector is higher than the overall gender pay gap of 16% (UN Women, 2020a). The Burden of Unpaid Care Work According to the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), globally, women undertake approximately ten times more care work than men (OECD, 2020). The value of unpaid work globally for women aged 15 and above is over 10.8 trillion dollars annually, three times the size of the tech industry (Coffey et  al., 2020). International agencies like the UN Women and WHO repeatedly assure how the gender gap in unpaid work is huge in developing countries. During the crisis, childcare poses a further threat to working parents. Schools and day-care centres closed, the maids also on leave, and the few available grandparents being prevented from offering childcare due to the possibility of virus exposure has created a severe crisis. It leaves parenting duties entirely to parents and more on the woman. Two-thirds of the healthcare workforce across the world consists of women. Most of the women healthcare workers isolate themselves to prevent carrying infection for those at home. In such situations, it becomes difficult for them to balance professional duties with unpaid daily work at the home front (OECD, 2020). As illustrated by the data from European OECD countries, women employed in the healthcare sector are half as much more likely as compared to men to deliver care work for the elderly, the ill and the disabled relatives at home, in addition to looking after children and routine domestic chores of cooking and cleaning (OECD, 2020). Global Education Scenario During the Pandemic With the lockdowns of the pandemic, schools, colleges and universities got closed down all of a sudden (Nicola et al., 2020), and the uncertainties prevailed for a short time. It has impacted 94% of the world’s student

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

7

population and up to 99% in low and lower-middle-income countries (United Nations, 2020b). But almost everywhere, the closure was soon overcome with the distance learning modes, primarily through online education facilitated by the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Several researchers have acknowledged the vitality of ICTs in women empowerment and overall development (Abubakar et al., 2017; Shehata, 2017). Yet, the shift from conventional classroom learning to online classes brought up many apprehensions, inconveniences and struggles to adapt to the new wave. It is estimated that almost half the world’s population remains offline, most of them belonging to the least developed countries. Though ownership of mobile phones has an empowering potential, there are wide gender disparities with women lacking a mobile phone in several countries assessed by the International Telecommunication Union [ITU], 2020. Intel’s report on ‘Women and the Web’ (Intel, 2013) reveals that, on average, across the developing world, nearly 25% fewer women than men have access to the internet. Thus the proportion of men using the internet is higher than that of women in two-thirds of the countries worldwide and is estimated as 55% and 48% respectively in the year 2019 (ITU, 2020) (Fig. 1.2). The gender digital divide is more widened in developing countries than the developed ones. Because of the gender digital divide (Emmanuel, 2020; GSMA, 2020; OECD, 2018) and the burden of unpaid domestic

Fig. 1.2  Internet gender gap across countries. (Source: ITU, 2020)

8 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

and care work at home (Burzynska & Contreras, 2020), women students and women educators have to bear excessive losses and burdens compared to their male counterparts. Moreover, the effectiveness of online education itself is a matter of concern as it is not a substitute for face-to-face learning happening in offline classes (Mishra et al., 2020). There have been various reports pointing out that during the days of lockdown, the overall productivity of professional women, in terms of research and publications, has gone down (Deryugina et  al., 2021; Flaherty, 2020; Shurchkov, 2020; Vincent-Lamarre et al., 2020). Higher levels of anxiety and stress are reported among women educators as they are overburdened with household chores and necessitated to learn the technology of handling online classes and conducting meetings on online platforms (Datta & Rej, 2020; Flaherty, 2020). Another aspect that needs special mention while discussing education during the pandemic is the trauma that interstate and international students and their parents had to pass through during the initial days of lockdown. The students got stranded in faraway locations, with fear of infection and worries about their wards, and utterly confused on whether to stay back or return homes far away. When the countries closed down their borders and the flights were all cancelled, there was insurmountable grief and trauma to the students who had taken heavy debts to pursue their studies in destination countries. Soria et al. (2020) report that students who experienced financial hardships, including unexpected increases in spending for technology or living expenses; the loss of wages from on-­ campus or off-campus employment; the loss or cancellation of an expected job or internship; and food and housing insecurity, had more negative impacts on their mental health when compared to those without any financial hardships. In this regard, Redden (2020) reports how international students in America were found to adapt well to online education than their American peers but were more concerned about staying safe and healthy and about navigating the healthcare and immigration systems during the coronavirus pandemic. The Shadow Pandemic Women constitute a major proportion of the most vulnerable and those living in extreme poverty. Their conditions are aggravated by the rising violence against women and girls, forming the ‘shadow pandemic’ (UN Women, 2020b). The lockdown policies have led to the confinement of

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

9

women with their abusers within the four walls of the house, which increased the risk of violence manifold since the length of cohabitation increased. There was less likelihood of interruption, which made helplines on violence, counselling centres, psychological care and support and information about legal remedies extremely crucial (Inter-American Commission for Women, 2020). Women get trapped in their homes with their abusers, isolated from the people and the resources that could help them (Godin, 2020). Thus, there has been a drastic increase in domestic violence cases across many countries during the pandemic. In France, cases increased by a third in the first week of lockdown, while reports were up 75% in Australia, and cases have doubled in Lebanon and India. While domestic violence can affect men and women, women experience a disproportionate toll; in the US, they are twice as likely to experience violence from an intimate partner and 14 times as likely to be raped (Henriques, 2020). On 28 March 2020, the UK reported its first coronavirus femicide committed by a man against his wife who was in self-­ isolation with him (European Network of Migrant Women, 2020). In addition to the physical violence that is likely to be present in every abusive relationship, common abuse tools used during the pandemic include constant surveillance, restrictions on access to basic necessities such as food, clothing and sanitary facilities (Taub, 2020). After widespread outrage from women’s groups, France and Belgium have converted hotels into shelter homes for abused women. In Spain, the government has announced that the lockdown is not applicable for women stepping out to seek help or report violence. Despite the helpline services available, most women seem to be unable to avail them because of the constant monitoring of the abusive partner with whom they are pressured to stay under the same roof. So far, no estimates have come regarding the number of unreported rapes and abuses that might have happened behind isolated homes. The largest UK-based support organisation reported a 700% surge in calls and complaints received from affected women (Guterres, 2020). It should be noted that several support services for high-risk women also face closures owing to lockdowns, and this intensifies the risk of exposure to intimate partner violence. A WHO report on global child abuse states, ‘schools were closed due to the Covid-19 for 1.5 billion children who had to remain at home with their parents facing heightened anxiety and stress levels due to lost income, social isolation and potential crowding at home’ (WHO, 2020a). It naturally will increase the propensity for child abuse and aggravates the fear,

10 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

stress and trauma of women at home. Sidpra et  al. (2020) endorse the situation on similar lines that while overt measures are being undertaken to control the global pandemic, another ‘silent pandemic’ that is on display at the home front is continuing because of the vicious circle created by factors like abuse, mental health, substance abuse and socioeconomic conditions. The usual gender discrimination in the pandemic days has become the dominant undercurrent narrative. Gendered Implications of Covid-19 on the Healthcare Sector As a health crisis, Covid-19 has its devastating perils on the health of infected people, their families and that of the healthcare providers. In the initial days of the breakout, both the developed and developing countries were equally unprepared to provide adequate healthcare to the patients, PPE kits to the healthcare providers and sufficient know-how or strategies to contain the virus. It took almost a year to develop effective vaccines against the virus. Better treatment procedures are still evolving across the world. Women who constitute 70% of the global health workers (Boniol et al., 2019; WHO, 2020b) are at a triple disadvantage as they have to take care of their own health, that of the Covid patients whom they are destined to serve, and that of the family members when they reach home and carry on the domestic and care work. Lack of PPE kits in the early days of the pandemic was a major threat for many of them (Boniol et al., 2019). Many studies have illustrated the key challenges women healthcare workers face in sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and lactation (Green et  al., 2020). The higher proportion of female healthcare workers getting infected in Italy, Spain and the USA (69%, 75.5%, 73% respectively) (UN Women, 2020c) during the first wave of the pandemic created much fear and panic among the health workers and their families. All these physical, emotional and mental pressures have led to anxiety, depression (Pappa et  al., 2020; Rossi et  al., 2020) and suicides among women healthcare professionals (Rahman & Plummer, 2020). The UNFPA (2020) reveals the multipronged impacts of the pandemic on women’s health that may arise due to the limitations in the availability of health services, at a time when the healthcare system focuses its attention on the pandemic cases; lack of availability of contraception due to disruption of the global supply chain; and the heightened vulnerability of women to gender-based violence while being trapped at home with abusive partners and that too for prolonged periods. The burden of

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

11

productive and reproductive work responsibilities, loss of jobs and income, and higher incidence of gender-based violence all have a heavy toll on women’s health, especially mental health since women are primarily held responsible for the care of children and other dependent individuals at home, demanding hygiene routines, household chores and economic activities (UN Women, 2020d; Inter-American Commission of Women, 2020). Thus Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in heightened anxiety, stress, fear, anger and depression with suicidal tendencies among women (Ahmed et al., 2020; Bhuiyan et al., 2020; Griffiths & Mamun, 2020; Jahan et al., 2020; Lathabhavan & Griffiths, 2020; Mamun & Griffiths, 2020). Dong & Bouey (2020) predict that in those nations where many Covid-19 cases shall be reported, a ‘true mental health crisis’ can arise. Older adults are markedly more vulnerable to Covid-19, with pre-­ existing medical conditions like diabetes, asthma or heart disease and an ageing immune system to combat illnesses, parasites and viruses (Mueller et al., 2020; Yanez et al., 2020). Mueller et al. (2020) provide the scientific explanation ‘why adults over 65 years of age represent 80% of hospitalizations and have a 23-fold greater risk of death than those under 65’. Recovery is usually slower and more nuanced in the case of older adults. As part of social distancing, the elderly are not expected to go out for their regular morning/evening walks and routine check-ups at hospitals. Older women, who generally outlive men, are more likely to live alone with an increased risk of social isolation. The majority of older women lack family support and do not have a reliable caregiver. They are also more likely to face poverty, the threat of infection and fear of death. All these add up to their anxiety, feeling of further isolation and neglect during the pandemic (Pandit, 2020). Violations of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Rights Situations like catastrophes, rivalries, internal conflicts and displacements intensify the pre-existing vulnerabilities and lack of access to SRH rights (Endler et al., 2020). More importantly, women and girls are often in the first line to bear the consequences of such disasters. UNFPA (2015) observed that women from such vulnerable situations could experience unmet contraceptive needs and a lack of access to safe abortions leading to higher unintended pregnancies. The report also states pregnancy in emergency settings to be life-threatening, and an estimated 60% of preventable maternal deaths, 53% of under-five deaths and 45% of neonatal deaths

12 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

occur worldwide in such vulnerable contexts. The current Covid-19 pandemic restructured and interrupted the healthcare services globally, leading to the disruption of SRH services and neonatal health services. Several countries failed to list reproductive health under essential services during lockdowns whereby women couldn’t access contraception or abortion, leading to unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions (Firstpost, 2020). According to the survey undertaken by the World Health Organization in 2020, family planning and contraceptives are among the most often interrupted health systems, with disturbances occurring in seven out of ten nations. UNFPA’s executive director, Dr. Natalia Kanem (2020), opined that ‘the pandemic is deepening inequalities, and millions more women and girls now risk losing the ability to plan their families and protect their bodies and their health’. UNFPA (2020) estimates that due to the pandemic, more than 47 million women in 114 low-income countries could lose access to contraception and an estimated 7 million unintended pregnancies during the initial six months of the lockdown globally. The report also seeks attention to the fact that the existing health emergency will disrupt the global efforts to end child marriage resulting in an additional 13 million child marriages between 2020 and 2030. As the pandemic is still ravaging with its additional waves across the world, the exact data related to such SRH rights violations are not available. Endler et  al. (2020), in their global survey in 29 countries, found that 86% of the respondents had difficulty accessing contraceptive services due to the pandemic. The corresponding figures for surgical and medical abortions were 62% and 46% respectively, and the increased risk of gender-based and sexual violence was marked up to 79%. Outbreaks of pandemics have differential impacts on different genders, and only limited scientific evidence is available to identify the implications of the current Covid-19 pandemic on the LGBTQI. Heidari et al. (2019) reiterate that many of the policy and programmatic efforts in safeguarding SRH rights in humanitarian situations are centred on the heterosexual cis-­ gendered women of reproductive ages. People belonging to non-heterosexual identities, older women, sex workers, differently abled and people with different gender identities experience significant obstacles like financial constraints, restrictions on mobility, neglect and stigma in accessing SRH services during the Covid-19 health crisis (Banerjee & Nair, 2020; Lathan, 2020; Thoreson, 2020).

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

13

Women’s Leadership During the Pandemic Several studies around the globe highlight the need and advantage of more women in political leadership. Women leaders are found to implement more policies to support women, children and social welfare by addressing issues like education, health and poverty (Anzia & Berry, 2011); and are less likely to vote for war or the death penalty (Koch & Fulton, 2011; Moreland & Watson, 2016). In addition to such positive measures, Beaman et al. (2012) and Murrell (2018) highlight how women political leaders serve as role models and catalysts for younger generations of girls to aspire for leadership roles. But globally, women are under-­ represented in politics, and their share in national parliaments is only one-­ fourth of the total. The ‘Women in politics: 2021’ map, created by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, presents global rankings for women in executive, government and parliamentary positions as of 1 January 2021. ‘The global share of women in national parliaments is 25.5%, a slight increase from 24.9% in 2020. According to the new data, women are Heads of State or Government in 22 countries, 5.9% of elected Heads of State (9 out of 152) and 6.7% of Heads of Government (13 out of 193) are women. But the number of countries with no women ministers as of 1 January 2021 increased to 12, compared to nine in 2020’ (UN Women, 2021, pp. 2–3). The pandemic period has created opportunities for subtle gender transformations and reconstructions in society. The female leadership started to be appreciated and accepted at workplaces and in the management of Covid-19 itself. The world has witnessed the administrative leadership of women in countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Germany, Taiwan, and the state of Kerala in India. In countries with women at the helm, confirmed deaths from Covid-19 are six times lower, partly due to these leaders’ faster response to the pandemic and greater emphasis on social and environmental well-being over time. In this context Chamorro-Premuzic and Wittenberg-Cox go further and highlight the specific ‘leadership potentials of women leaders, Angela Merkel’s datadriven trustworthiness, Jacinda Ardern’s empathetic rationality, and Tsai Ing-wen’s quiet resilience’(2020, p. 4). Nevertheless, women’s leadership could not be witnessed in other pertinent areas. For instance, in a sample of 104 countries, where women constitute about 85% of the frontline health workers, auxiliary nurses and midwives (Boniol et al., 2019), women form only a minor proportion of senior leadership positions in the field of health (Boniol et  al., 2019;

14 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Downs et al., 2014; WHO, 2019). But in order to ensure the formulation and implementation of gender-responsive policies, more and more women are required in the higher echelons of decision making. The UN Women Executive Director’s Report 2020 gives a dismal picture that 75% of parliamentarians are men, 73% of managerial decision makers are men, 67% of climate negotiators are men, 76% of the mainstream news media people are men, and 87% of the people at the peace table are men (UN Women, 2020d). The skewed proportion of women in these decision-making positions needs to be balanced to foster women’s agency in the agendas for SDGs 2030.

Section II—Gender Dimensions of Covid-19 in India It becomes imperative to understand and recognise how the pandemic affects men and women differently, more so in India, where inequitable distribution and access to resources is predominantly present. The first case of Covid-19 infection in India was reported in Kerala on 27 January 2020. The 20-year-old medical student had returned to Kerala from Wuhan city and had a history of travel from Wuhan to Kunming by train a few days before, where she could notice people with respiratory symptoms in railway station and trains (Andrews et al., 2020). In two months, the spread of Covid was so fast that the Government of India had to declare a complete lockdown from 23 March 2020 to the end of June in its desperate attempt to contain the virus. During the lockdown, public places were closed down, and restrictions were imposed on the movement of the public with police aid. Measures were taken to generate awareness among the people to maintain physical distance, proper hand washing and other preventive measures to curb the pandemic. Since September 2020, India record the second-highest number of Covid cases in the world, next to the Americas. During the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which started around 10 February 2021, with a more deadly variant of the virus, India faces a more challenging battle. There is a higher number of positive cases and higher death tolls than the first wave. Acute shortage of oxygen/ICU beds and ventilators and the shortage of vaccine have created total havoc throughout the country during the second wave. The figure below shows the increasing number of infections and death rates during the second wave compared to the first wave of the pandemic (Fig. 1.3).

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

15

Fig. 1.3  Covid-19 infection and death rates—India situation (as on 30 June 2021). (Source: WHO, 2021)

While discussing the gendered experiences of the pandemic in India, one has to get acquainted with the peculiar social positioning of women in the country. The Indian Constitution guarantees equal rights to men and women in society. But the culturally constructed gender norms and unequal power relations have been reinforcing inequalities between men and women that get justified under the facade of traditions. Women’s restricted mobility, the specific impurity assigned to women, the significance attached to the chastity of women, son preference, violations of SRH rights, and so on, are traditions through which gender inequality operates in the Indian society and gain acceptance from men and women alike. Though the world has made strides in a few aspects of gender equality, such as maternal mortality, the share of women in professional and technical jobs, and political representation (Madgavkar et al., 2020), the scenario in India is complex and different. Issues like the declining female labour force participation, unfair distribution of leadership roles in academic, corporate, religious, and political sectors, ownership inequalities, gender digital divide, and the increasing gender-based violence pose severe challenges to gender parity in the Indian context. The pandemic with its differential impact on the genders has exacerbated the gender gaps in every sphere of life. As elsewhere, whatever achievements attained by Indian women over the past century have got shattered during the Covid-19 pandemic with its heavy blow on their

16 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Table 1.1  Gender gap in India as per the sub-indices-2021

Sub index

Score

India’s rank/156 countries

Economic participation and opportunity Educational attainment Health and survival Political empowerment Total

0.326

151

0.962 0.937 0.276 0.625

114 155 51 140

Source: WEF: Global Gender Gap Report (2021)

individual and collective consciousness and empowerment. The Global Gender Gap Report 2021, reveals the impact of Covid-19 on the hardearned gender equality in India. ‘Home to 0.65 billion women, India has widened its gender gap from almost 66.8% closed one year ago to 62.5% this year’ (WEF: Global Gender Gap Report, 2021, p. 27) (Table 1.1). The Gender Gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity India already had a declining trend in its female labour force participation (FLFP) rate over the last three decades. The traditional gender role perceptions pose a severe impediment to the work participation of women outside the households. For example, across India, there are cultural expectations that women are to be protected by men and hence need not own any assets or earn money for livelihood. Instead women must prioritise housework and care work (Fig. 1.4). A survey on social attitudes in 2016 found that around 40–60% of men and women believe married women should not work if the husband earns reasonably well (Sharma 2019). Such notions got further deepened with the Covid-19 pandemic and its lockdowns. Citing the rapid assessment studies conducted in 2020 by the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST) Delhi on women informal workers in India, Datta endorses that ‘women in poor households work in more vulnerable categories such as domestic help, street vending, waste picking, home-based work and construction work’ (Datta, 2020, p. 3). Of the 10.6 million domestic women workers in India, 82% are employed in urban households, with wages lower than the national minimum wage (Datta, 2020). With the lack of transportation and the protocols of social distancing, this large women workforce

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

17

Fig. 1.4  Women’s ownership of property in comparison to men in India. (Source: National Family Health Survey [NFHS-4])

has become jobless during the pandemic. Reiterating the aftermaths, the ILO (2021) reports that as a result of Covid-19, ‘an estimated 400 million informal sector workers are at risk of abject poverty in India’. Another area hit hard by the pandemic is the retail sector from which the 250 million Indian households purchase their merchandise. It forms the largest employer in the country (after those engaged in agriculture) and is directly responsible for more than 45–50 million jobs. Women in India are largely employed in the informal retail sector. Food and grocery, textiles and apparel, jewellery and consumer electronics and durables are the four most significant consumer spending segments in India. The fate of the country’s farmers and the millions of workers in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors who produce a myriad of consumer goods is directly linked to the private consumption of Indian households (Singhal, 2020) in the segments mentioned above. As a result of the pandemic, with textiles and apparel stores shut down completely, there will be a stock that risks becoming slow-moving as the season changes from winter to summer. Consumer sentiment is likely to be quite depressed

18 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

% 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Fig. 1.5  Labour force participation of women in India. (Source: ILO STAT database, 2021)

for several months after lifting the lockdown, and expenditure on clothing (and accessories) is highly likely not to be a priority for most consumers in different income strata. The pandemic has brought out the consumers’ limited requirements, and most of the expenditure now is on food and health. In this scenario, clothes, footwear, accessories have all taken a back seat, with a heavy toll on the employment of women workers in the retail sector. The ILO data shows the declining trend in the labour force participation of women in India (Fig. 1.5).  According to ILO,    the FLFP in India has fallen from 20.79% in 2019 to 20.3 % in 2020. As per the Global Gender Gap Report of 2021 (WEF, 2021), India’s gender gap in the economic participation dimension widened by 3%, leading to a 32.6% gap closed to date. The FLFP rate in India is reported to have fallen from 24.8% in 2020 to 22.3% in the year 2021. In addition, the share of women in professional and technical roles declined further to 29.2%. The share of women in senior and managerial positions also remains low: women hold only 14.6% of these positions, and only 8.9% of firms have top female managers. Further, women’s estimated earned income is only one-fifth of men’s, which puts India among the bottom ten globally on this indicator (WEF: Global Gender Gap Report, 2021, p. 37).

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

19

As mentioned earlier, the burden of unpaid care work aggravated by the gender division of labour is a significant reason for the declining FLFP in India. With schools and offices shut down, the retail sectors closed and domestic help unavailable during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, the amount of unpaid care work that women already carry increased by an estimated 30% (Dalberg, 2020). According to an estimation by Oxfam in the study (Oxfam India, 2020) ‘Time To Care’, women and girls invest 3.26 billion hours of unpaid care work every day, adding to the Indian economy Rs 19 lakh crores per year, equal to 20 times India’s entire education budget. Education and the Digital Divide The International Telecommunication Union [ITU] (2017) Report states that while an estimated 81% of the population in developed economies use the internet, the number of people using the internet in developing nations is only 41%, and in the least developed economies, only 17.5%. ‘In India, 96.2% of the Educational Attainment gender gap has been closed, with parity achieved in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Yet, gender gaps persist in literacy: one-third of women are illiterate (34.2%) compared to 17.6% of men’. (WEF: Global Gender Gap Report, 2021, p.  37). Whatever achievement gained in the past has been seriously implicated with the shift from learning in physical classrooms to online classes due to the gendered digital divide existing in the country. India’s stark gender digital divide was pointed out in the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report [GSMA] (2020). Accordingly, there is a significant gender gap in smartphone ownership, with women in low and middle-income countries 20% less likely than men to own one. ‘Handset affordability remains the primary barrier to mobile phone ownership for men and women. Among mobile users who are aware of mobile internet, the lack of literacy and digital skills continues to be the main barrier to use’ (GSMA, 2020, p. 3). As a result, women and girls without a smartphone have no choice but to manage it somehow to attend online classes. If not adequately addressed, the gender digital divide is likely to negatively impact whatever parity achieved in the education sector so far. Authors also raise apprehensions on girls’ likelihood of dropping out from schools and colleges and getting married at early ages (Bose, 2020a) due to the inability to attend online classes. In a country like India, domestic responsibilities are a barrier arising from the gendered roles that both women students and faculties face in

20 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

online education. Because of gendered expectations in work and family roles, women may fail to develop the digital skills required for engaging in ICT-facilitated classes (Miller & Shrum, 2011). Lack of time is also found to be yet another barrier to women’s access and usage of the internet (Best & Maier, 2007; Johnson, 2010). Due to the lack of smartphones (Shrinivasa, 2020) and other infrastructure facilities like television, where education broadcasting occurs, girls in India have committed suicides during the early days of lockdown (Lathabhavan & Griffiths, 2020). There are scholars who reported that India was not ready for online education in 2020. However, at the end of one year, several positive changes have happened, as revealed in the exhaustive country-wide survey conducted by the book’s authors. Students and faculties have improved their digital skills; school and college authorities and PTAs (Parent Teacher Associations), NGOs and local self-governing bodies have come up to see that not even a single student is left behind without the infrastructure facilities for pursuing their online classes. Smartphones, laptops, television sets, and arrangements for accessing online classes poured in from different angles. India is changing with the times, but it will take much more investment to ensure that all children from underprivileged sections and rural areas are equipped with smartphones and the necessary connectivity to access online education. The Gender Gap in Health and Survival With 93.7% of the gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in the sub-index of the health and survival sector of the Global Gender Gap Report, 2021. India has the largest number of anaemic women globally who are likely to be pushed into further malnutrition in the days of penury during the pandemic. With regard to menstrual hygiene management, lack of money to purchase menstrual hygiene requirements and lack of availability of sanitary pads are likely to affect young girls and adult women’s reproductive health. School-going girls who used to get mid-day meals and sanitary napkins from the school had lost the opportunity when the schools got closed down (Bose, 2020a). In the context of reproductive health during the Covid-19 pandemic, India had listed abortions as essential services under lockdown and made amendments in abortion laws to permit women to access abortions up to 24 weeks, several of the women were unaware of such availability; while others

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

21

were scared of accessing hospitals out of the fear of getting infected with Covid; still others due to restricted mobility failed to avail the facilities—the end result being a hike in unwanted pregnancies. It is reported that when the lockdowns were lifted after the first wave, many women turned up for complicated and expensive second-trimester abortions (Firstpost, 2020). The social distancing, quarantine, restrictions on mobility, lack of social interactions and boredom and uncertainties related to the pandemic affect the mental health of people irrespective of their age, gender, class or race. But as per the UNFPA (2020) survey in India, 66% of women experience stress during the Covid-19 pandemic compared to 34% of men because of their social roles and gendered positions. The loss of jobs and income, overburden of unpaid care work and the fear about or actual gender-based violence all have their roots in the specific social positioning of Indian women ending up in higher levels of anxiety and stress. In the context of mental health, the condition of frontline women health workers is more vulnerable due to fear of catching a disease, long working hours, unavailability of protective gear and supplies, patient load, unavailability of effective Covid-19 medication, death of their colleagues after exposure to Covid-19, social distancing and isolation from their family and friends, and the dire situation of their patients (Irfan et al., 2020). In the case of women health workers of India, one major aspect needs to be added—the heavy load of domestic work—which is shared in rare homes only. Narrations of restlessness and fatigue were shared by hundreds of women in India, belonging to various spheres of life. But there is a commonality in all the stories related to women’s caring and nurturing roles, imbibed through cultural socialisation. A retired professor shares: I felt so happy and peaceful and thanked God when my sons with families reached home safely from the US in the initial days of lockdown. I was so excited to cook and serve them. The sleep schedules and meal times were different for the new immigrants. I have to sleep late to see my grandchildren well fed at midnight but have to get up at 5 am to take care of my bedridden mother in law. When my sons go out with their wives for shopping and dine out, I have to take care and run after the grandchildren who hesitate to stay inside. I feel exhausted due to sleeplessness and the overburden of domestic chores. I am done. Now I pray let them return to the US at the earliest.

Women who work from home also share similar stories of ‘burnout’ where they have to manage the work at home, homeschooling of children, and professional responsibilities without domestic help or child care facilities.

22 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Gender-Based Violence As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015–16), every third woman in India suffers sexual or physical violence at home. The survey among 548 global experts on gender issues undertaken by the Thomson Reuters Foundation (Goldsmith & Beresford, 2018) has ranked India to be the most dangerous country for women to live in terms of healthcare, economic resources, cultural or traditional practices, sexual violence and harassment. Respondents also ranked India as the most dangerous country for women because of human trafficking, including sex slavery and domestic servitude, and customary practices such as forced marriage, stoning and female infanticide. The cultural norms are so deeply internalised by women that 52% of Indian women believe that a husband has every right to beat his wife. The survey also reports that Christian men and women justified physical abuse the most among religious groups (NFHS-4, 2015–16). It is also unfortunate to note that more women than men justify wife-beating in India (Fig. 1.6). During the pandemic, as elsewhere, in India, women are confined with abusive partners at home, with minimal access to phones and chances for contact with support services. With its focus on the implementation of Covid protocols, the police machinery fails to respond to the issues of victimised women. Loss of jobs and lack of money add up the frustrations of men who unleash violence on women and keep surveillance on them, wherein women become helpless even to make a call to the helplines (Bose,

Fig. 1.6  Women and men’s attitude towards wife-beating. (Source: National Family Health Survey [NFHS-4])

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

23

2020b). Due to restricted mobility, women could not even escape to a friend’s house. As the college hostels and paying guest facilities were closed, adolescent girls and young women who used to stay away from the abusers at homes had to return and endure the violence happening under the same roof. In India, ‘the National Commission for Women (NCW), which receives domestic violence complaints from across the country, has recorded more than a twofold rise in gender-based violence in the lockdown period’ (The Economic Times, 2020). Prasad (2021) reports how the NCW chairperson expressed her concern over ‘online harassment, including cyberstalking towards women, which has increased by 500% during the pandemic’. The Gender Gap in Decision-Making Power and Political Leadership The stark power difference between men and women in India is quite revealing within the homes and at the higher echelons of parliamentary positions. Moreover, the decision-making power enjoyed by women gives a clear picture of their actual status and helplessness within homes. According to Intel’s report (2020) on ‘Women and the Web’, one in five women in India believes the internet is not ‘appropriate’ for them (Fig. 1.7).

Fig. 1.7  Decision-making power of women in Indian homes. (Source: National Family Health Survey [NFHS-4])

24 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

It is due to the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) that a good number of girls and women in India (53% as per NFHS-4) have a personal bank account. MNREGA guarantees 100 days of work per year to one adult member of a BPL family, the wages of which are directly sent to the worker’s bank account. Still, the number of women possessing a bank account but not knowing how to operate it is also substantial in rural settings. Moving on to the higher levels of political leadership, despite being a democratic country with almost 50% women population, in India, women are viewed only as voters and participants in marches and protests of political parties. They are under-represented in the legislatures and ministries. Women are not even assigned winnable seats in elections. Because of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments, 33% reservation was ensured for women in local self-government institutions where they have proved their excellence in  local politics. As per the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, there is a decline in the political empowerment sub-index, where India has regressed 13.5 percentage points to reach a level of gap closed to just 27.6%. There is a significant decline in the share of women among ministers, which halved, from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2021. In addition, the percentage of women in parliament in the largest democracy of the world remains stagnant at 14.4%, and the share of the last 50 years in which a woman has been head of state is only 15.5%. As opined by Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of the UN Women, ‘women politicians are held back from parliamentary positions in India mainly because of lack of finance for campaigns and stereotyping, which could be overcome only by reservation of posts for women’ (The Hindu, 2017). Other Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic The twenty-first century is often referred to as the century of the feminine, and the pandemic has provided testimony to this fact. The quantum of abysmal care work women do both within and outside homes, the efficiency with which women manage the diverse requirements at the grassroots level, and manage the Covid crisis as country heads, all have led to new revelations. A positive change is reflected in the way boys and men started sharing household chores. But whether such transformations will continue after the lockdowns is to wait and see. At least in a few families, young children

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

25

have started becoming more independent, both in personal care and their studies. Positive changes related to simpler lifestyles and food habits are widely reported among the majority of families, as revealed from the field reports and surveys undertaken. But how far the changes sustain is quite uncertain.

Conclusion The Covid-19 pandemic with its universal mantra of ‘Stay Home & Stay Safe’ has had a devastating impact on women’s lives across the globe. Though India is regarded as the world’s fastest-growing economy and at times reckoned as an emerging ‘superpower’, it is noted for the wide gender gap indices and cultural sanctions for discriminating against women. In such a tradition-bound society, the gendered implications of the pandemic are more severe. The ‘new normal’ with a three to four times increase in unpaid care work and unpaid domestic work for women, along with the alarming rise in domestic violence, has led to a situation of ‘parallel pandemic’ within the so-called safe homes. The country with a declining trend in female labour force participation and more than 90% of the working women segregated in the informal sector has now become a land of joblessness and total uncertainties for women. Thus due to the pandemic and the series of lockdowns, Indian women who were already dispossessed of their rights to dignity, safety and livelihood have now become dispossessed of their jobs and hopes. But here the intersectionality matters a lot. As observed by WHO, ‘gender-based discrimination intersects with other factors, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location, gender identity and sexual orientation, among others’ (WHO, 2015, p. 2). The lockdown experiences of high-income women working in the organised sector and with lesser dependents can in no way be compared with women working in the informal sector. The conditions of migrant women are all the more miserable as they have lost their jobs, back wages and belongings at the destination cities/countries and are unaccepted while back in their villages, with uncertainties regarding their housing, healthcare and livelihoods surrounding them. Adolescent girls from low-income families in rural India face violations of all their rights when subjected to forced marriages with inaccessible online classes in the absence of smartphone or connectivity. Several LGBTQI persons who were already facing rejection from their own families have now become jobless and homeless.

26 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Yet, amidst all the adversities, Indian women have proved their worth and resilience in facing the challenges of the pandemic and are hoped to restart from where they have stopped at the outbreak of the pandemic. Women need the additional support of the government in the form of financial outlays and gender-responsive policies, some of which are already getting implemented while others are in the pipeline. It does not intend women to be passive recipients of welfare measures, but it is a call for accepting women as actors and agents of development at home, in the community and at the higher echelons of decision-making. An overview of the existing programmes and policies and the  additional policy recommendations needed to foster the development regarding gender parity are given in the concluding chapter of this book titled 'Gender Responsive Policies for the Decade of Action’. This book focuses more on the gender dimensions of the pandemic in India as it is creating much more havoc in the lives of girls and women than that of boys and men. It is a compendium of scholarly chapters on the subjective feelings of women in different spheres of life. As the multipronged pandemic is still an ongoing crisis, with its second and third waves creating havoc in different parts of the globe, gender-disaggregated data and accurate statistics are still awaited. So the chapters of the book are based on the rapid assessment surveys and micro studies undertaken by the contributing authors in different states of the Indian subcontinent. Thematic analysis of sources such as UN reports, policy briefs, government surveys, press notes, newspaper and online media reports of the pandemic are also undertaken by a few others. As mentioned earlier, the intersection of gender on other vulnerabilities exacerbates the impact of Covid-19. Hence the gendered experiences of populations like migrant women workers, transgender persons, women frontline health workers—especially the Anganwadi and ASHA workers, self-employed women, elderly women, pregnant women, and so on, form the major content of this book. At the same time, this book is not claimed to be complete in itself as issues faced by several other sections of women could not be addressed because of the constraints related to meeting them and collecting information during the pandemic days. The book justifies the urgency of gender-responsive policies firmly grounded on the principles of gender mainstreaming that are funded adequately and implemented effectively with strong positioning and authority of women to create a more equal and resilient world.

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

27

This book compiled through a gender lens is hoped to be a good addition to feminist scholarship on experiences of women during the Covid-19 pandemic. The book exposes the harsh realities of how women have to fight for their rights every day and in every sphere of life in a tradition-­ bound society like that of India. It invites the attention of all concerned, including policymakers and development scholars, to the efficiency with which women serve their families and society and have come to the forefront with their unique ways of situational leadership to manage the pandemic. Covid-19 has highlighted in an unprecedented way, women’s critical role in the sustenance of egalitarian and resilient societies. This book endorses the strength of ‘women power’ even on the face of the largest health crisis humans have ever witnessed.

References Abubakar, N. H., Dasuki, S. I., & Quaye, A. M. (2017). The contribution of ICTs to women empowerment: A capability perspective. Twenty-third Americas Conference on Information Systems, Boston, 2017. Ahmed, M. Z., Ahmed, O., Aibao, Z., Hanbin, S., Siyu, L., & Ahmad, A. (2020). Epidemic of COVID-19  in China and associated psychological problems. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 102092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ajp.2020.102091 Andrews, M. A., Areekal, B., Rajesh, K. R., Krishnan, J. R., Suryakala, R., Krishnan, B., Muraly, C. P., & Santhosh, P. V. (2020). First confirmed case of Covid-19 infection in India: A case report. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 151(5), 490–492. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_2131_20 Anzia, S. F., & Berry, C. R. (2011). The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson effect: Why do congresswomen outperform congressmen? American Journal of Political Science, 55(3), 478–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-­5907.2011.00512.x Azcona, G., Bhatt, A., Encarnacion, J., Plazaola-Castaño, J., Seck, P., Staab, S., & Turquet, L. (2020). From insights to action: Gender equality in the wake of Covid-19. UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/-­/media/headquarters/ attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/gender-­equality-­in-­the-­ wake-­of-­covid-­19-­en.pdf?la=en&vs=5142 Banerjee, D., & Nair, V. S. (2020). The untold side of COVID-19: Struggle and perspectives of the sexual minorities. Journal of Psychosexual Health, 2(2), 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631831820939017 Beaman, L., Duflo, E., Pande, R., & Topalova, P. (2012). Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: A policy experiment in India. Science, 335(6068), 582–586. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1212382

28 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Best, M. L., & Maier, S. G. (2007). Gender, culture and ICT use in rural South India. Gender, Technology and Development, 11(2), 137–155. https://doi. org/10.1177/097185240701100201 Bhuiyan, A.  K. M.  I., Sakib, N., Pakpour, A., Griffiths, M.  D., & Mamun, M. A. (2020). COVID-19-related suicides in Bangladesh due to lockdown and economic factors: Case study evidence from media reports. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11469-­020-­00307-­y Boniol, M., McIsaac, M., Xu, L., Wuliji, T., Diallo, K., & Campbell, J. (2019). Gender equity in the health workforce: Analysis of 104 countries (No. WHO/ HIS/HWF/Gender/WP1/20COVID-19.1), World Health Organization. http://apps.who.int/bookorders Bose, A. (2020a, June 12). Pulled out of school, pushed into marriage: What the pandemic is doing to India’s teenaged girls. News18. https://www.news18. com/news/buzz/pulled-­o ut-­o f-­s chool-­p ushed-­i nto-­m arriage-­w hat-­t he-­ pandemic-­is-­doing-­to-­indias-­teenaged-­girls-­2665297.html Bose A. (2020b, April 6). India’s domestic abuse survivors are in lockdown with their monsters, but helplines are not ringing. News18. https://www.news18. com/news/buzz/indias-­domestic-­abuse-­survivors-­are-­in-­lockdown-­with-­ their-­monsters-­but-­the-­helplines-­are-­not-­ringing-­2563955.html Burzynska, K., & Contreras, G. (2020). Gendered effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet, 395(10242), 1968. https://doi. org/10.1016/S0140-­6736(20)31377-­5 Chakraborty, S. (2020). Covid-19 and women informal sector workers in India. Economic & Political Weekly, 55(35). https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/35/ commentary/covid-­19-­and-­women-­informal-­sector-­workers-­india.html Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Wittenberg-Cox, A. (2020, June 26). Will the pandemic reshape notions of female leadership. Harvard Business Review. https:// hbr.org/2020/06/will-­the-­pandemic-­reshape-­notions-­of-­female-­leadership Coffey, C., Revollo, P. E., Harvey, R., Lawson, M., Butt, A. P., Piaget, K., Sarosi, D., & Thekkudan, J. (2020). Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis. OXFAM. https://indepth.oxfam.org.uk/time-­to-­care/ Dalberg. (2020). Indian women do 10 times more unpaid care work than Indian men, and Covid-19-related challenges have increased their burden by an estimated 30%. https://dalberg.com/covid-­work/ Datta, D. (2020, December 9). Women at work. The Statesman. https://www. thestatesman.com/opinion/women-­at-­work-­1502939717.html Datta, P., & Rej, K. (2020). Anxiety, depression and stress among women in teaching profession during lockdown due to COVID-19. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 8(4), 872–878. https://doi.org/10.25215/0804.107 Deryugina, T., Shurchkov, O., & Stearns, J. E. (2021). Covid-19 disruptions disproportionately affect female academics (Working paper 28360). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w28360

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

29

Dong, L., & Bouey, J. (2020). Public mental health crisis during Covid-19 pandemic, China. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 23(26). https://doi.org/10.3201/ eid2607.200407 Downs, J. A., Reif, M. L. K., Hokororo, A., & Fitzgerald, D. W. (2014). Increasing women in leadership in global health. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 89(8), 1103. https://doi. org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000369 Dugarova, E. (2020). Unpaid care work in times of the Covid-19 crisis: Gendered impacts, emerging evidence and promising policy responses. Paper prepared for the UN Expert Group Meeting Families in development: Assessing progress, challenges and emerging issues. Focus on modalities for IYF+30. https:// w w w. u n . o r g / d e v e l o p m e n t / d e s a / f a m i l y / w p -­c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / sites/23/2020/09/Duragova.Paper_.pdf Emmanuel, G. (2020, June 18). Kerala: Malappuram district reports second suicide of Class. MumbaiMirror. https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news/ india/kerala-­m alappuram-­d istrict-­r eports-­s econd-­s uicide-­o f-­c lass-­1 0-­ student-­o ver-­o nline-­c lasses/articleshow/76440526.cms?utm_source= contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst Endler, M., Al Haidari, T., Benedetto, C., Chowdhury, S., Christilaw, J., Kak, F. E., Galimberti, D., Garcia-Moreno, C., Gutierrez, M., Ibrahim, S., Kumari, S., McNicholas, C., Flores, D.  M., Muganda, J., Ramirez-Negrin, A., Senanayake, H., Sohail, R., Temmerman, M., & Gemzell-Danielsson, K. (2020). How the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is impacting sexual and reproductive health and rights and response: Results from a global survey of providers, researchers, and policy makers. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 100(4), 571–578. https://doi.org/10.1111/aogs.14043 European Network of Migrant Women. (2020). Global feminist perspective: Migrant women on Covid. https://philanthropywomen.org/article/global-­ feminist-­perspective-­new-­normal-­after-­covid/ Firstpost. (2020, August 20). 1.3 million women in India lost access to contraceptives, abortions during the Covid-19 pandemic: Report. https://www. firstpost.com/health/1-­3-­million-­women-­in-­india-­lost-­access-­to-­contraceptives-­ abortions-­during-­the-­covid-­19-­pandemic-­report-­8732021.html Flaherty, C. (2020, April 21). No room of one’s own. Inside Higher Ed. https:// www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/21/early-­j ournal-­s ubmission-­ data-­suggest-­covid-­19-­tanking-­womens-­research-­productivity Godin, M. (2020, March 18). How corona virus is affecting victims of domestic violence. Time. https://time.com/5803887/coronavirus-­domestic-­violence-­ victims/ Goldsmith, B., & Beresford, M. (2018, June 26). Exclusive: India most dangerous country for women with sexual violence rife  – global poll. Thomson Reuters

30 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Foundation. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-­women-­dangerous-­poll-­ exclusive-­idUSKBN1JM01X Green, L., Fateen, D., Gupta, D., McHale, T., Nelson, T., & Mishori, R. (2020). Providing women’s health care during Covid-19: Personal and professional challenges faced by health workers. International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13313 Griffiths, M. D., & Mamun, M. A. (2020). COVID-19 suicidal behaviour among couples and suicide pacts: Case study evidence from press reports. Psychiatry Research, 289, 113105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113105 GSMA. (2020). Connected women: The mobile gender gap report 2020. https:// www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-­content/uploads/2020/05/ GSMA-­The-­Mobile-­Gender-­Gap-­Report-­2020.pdf Guterres, A. (2020, April 30). A greater impact on women. The Hindu. https:// www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-­e d/a-­g reater-­i mpact-­o n-­w omen/article31465962.ece Heidari, S., Onyango, M. A., & Chynoweth, S. (2019). Sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian crises at ICPD25+ and beyond: Consolidating gains to ensure access to services for all. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 27(1), 343–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2019.1676513 Henriques, M. (2020, April 13). Why COVID-19 is different for men and women. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200409-­why-­covid-­19­is-­different-­for-­men-­and-­women. ILO. (2021). Labour force participation rate, female (% female population ages 15+) (modelled ILO estimate)-India. International Labour Organisation. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=IN Intel. (2013). Women and the web. https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/ public/us/en/documents/pdf/women-­and-­the-­web.pdf Intel. (2020). Women and the web: Bridging the internet gap and creating new global opportunities in low and middle-income countries. https://www.intel.la/ content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/pdf/women-­a nd-­ the-­web.pdf Inter-American Commission of Women. (2020). Covid-19  in women’s lives: Reasons to recosgnize the differential impacts. http://www.oas.org/en/cim/ docs/ArgumentarioCOVID19-­EN.pdf Irfan, M., Naeem, F., Afridi, M., & Javed, A. (2020). Prevention of occupational stress in health-care workers during COVID-19 pandemic. Indian Journal of  Psychiatry, 62(9), 495–497. https://www.indianjpsychiatry.org/text. asp?2020/62/9/495/296517 ITU. (2017). ICT facts and figures 2017. International Telecommunication Union. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-­D/Statistics/Pages/facts/default.aspx

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

31

ITU. (2020). Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2020. International Telecommunication Union. https://www.itu.int/en/itu-­d/statistics/pages/ facts/default.aspx Jahan, S., Araf, K., Gozal, D., Griffiths, M.  D., & Mamun, M.  A. (2020). Depression and suicidal behaviours among Bangladeshi mothers of children with autistic spectrum disorder: A comparative study. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, e101994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.101994 Johnson, V. (2010). Women and the internet: A micro study in Chennai, India. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 17(1), 151–163. https://doi. org/10.1177/097152150901700107 Klein, S.  L., & Flanagan, K.  L. (2016). Sex differences in immune responses. Nature Reviews Immunology, 16(10), 626–638. https://doi.org/10.1038/ nri.2016.90 Koch, M. T., & Fulton, S. A. (2011). In the defense of women: Gender, office holding, and national security policy in established democracies. The Journal of Politics, 73(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022381610000824 Lathabhavan, R., & Griffiths, M. (2020). First case of student suicide in India due to the COVID-19 education crisis: A brief report and preventive measures. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102202 Lathan, C. (2020, June 6). Fight for LGBTQ rights is more important than ever during Covid-19 pandemic. The Print. https://theprint.in/opinion/fight-­for-­ lgbtq-­r ights-­i s-­m ore-­i mportantthan-­e ver-­d uring-­c ovid-­1 9-­p andemic/ 435783/ Madgavkar, A., White, O., Krishnan, M., Mahajan, D., & Azcue, X. (2020). COVID-19 and gender equality: Countering the regressive effects. McKinsey Global Institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/ Industries/Public%20and%20Social%20Sector/Our%20Insights/Future%20 of%20Organizations/COVID%2019%20and%20gender%20equality%20 Countering%20the%20regressive%20effects/COVID-­19-­and-­gender-­equality-­ Countering-­the-­regressive-­effects-­vF.pdf Mamun, M.  A., & Griffiths, M.  D. (2020). First Covid-19 suicide case in Bangladesh due to fear of COVID-19 and xenophobia: Possible suicide prevention strategies. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ajp.2020.102073 Miller, B. P., & Shrum, W. (2011). The gender digital divide in the research sectors of Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala: Are women more connected over time? Gender Technology and Development, 15(1), 25–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 097185241101500102 Mishra, L., Gupta, T., & Shree, A. (2020). Online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.ijedro.2020.100012

32 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Moreland, A., & Watson, D. (2016). Women’s representation and capital punishment. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 37(4), 490–513. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/1554477X.2016.1192434 Mueller, A. L., McNamara, M. S., & Sinclair, D. A. (2020). Why does COVID-19 disproportionately affect older people? Aging (Albany NY), 12(10), 9959–9981. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103344 Murrell, A. (2018, December 3). The new wave of women leaders: Breaking the glass ceiling or facing the glass cliff? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ audreymurrell/2018/12/03/the-­new-­wave-­of-­women-­leaders-­breaking-­the-­ glass-­ceiling-­or-­facing-­the-­glass-­cliff/#5de7a18831dd NFHS-4. (2015–16). National family health survey. International institute for population sciences. Deonar, Mumbai. http://rchiips.org/nfhs/ NFHS-­4Reports/India.pdf Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., Agha, M., & Agha, R. (2020). The socioeconomic implications of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic: A review. International Journal of Surgery, 78, 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018 OECD. (2018). Bridging the digital gender divide: Include, upskill, innovate. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www. oecd.org/digital/bridging-­the-­digital-­gender-­divide.pdf OECD. (2020). OECD policy responses to coronavirus (COVID-19): Women at the core of the fight against COVID-19 crisis. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/ policy-­r esponses/women-­a t-­t he-­c ore-­o f-­t he-­f ight-­a gainst-­c ovid-­1 9-­ crisis-­553a8269/ Oxfam India. (2020). #TimeToCare (India). https://www.oxfamindia.org/press-­ release/timetocare-­india Pandit, A. (2020, June 15). Abuse has increased during lockdown, say 71% of elderly. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/abuse-­ has-­increased-­during-­lockdown-­say-­71-­of-­elderly/articleshow/76377324.cms Pappa, S., Ntella, V., Giannakas, T., Giannakoulis, V.  G., Papoutsi, E., & Katsaounou, P. (2020). Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 88, 901–907. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.026 Prasad, A. (2021, April 6). Beware! Cyberstalking is on the rise during the pandemic. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-­style/ spotlight/beware-­cyberstalking-­is-­on-­the-­rise-­during-­the-­pandemic/articleshow/81924158.cms Rahman, A., & Plummer, V. (2020). COVID-19 related suicide among hospital nurses: Case study evidence from worldwide media reports. Psychiatry Research, 291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113272

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

33

Redden, E. (2020, July 1). International students’ worries during the pandemic. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/01/ survey-­international-­students-­main-­concerns-­center-­issues-­health-­safety-­and Rossi, R., Socci, V., Pacitti, F., Lorenzo, G. D., Marco, A. D., Siracusano, A., & Rossi, A. (2020). JAMA Network Open, 3(5). https://doi.org/10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2020.10185 Sharma, S. (2019, May 15). The conspicuous absence of women in India’s labour force. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-­conspicuous-­ absence-­of-­women-­in-­indias-­labour-­force-­109744 Shehata, A. M. H. (2017). Role of information and communication technology in closing gender employment gap in MENA countries. The Business and Management Review, 8(4), 168–178. https://cberuk.com/cdn/conference_ proceedings/conference_26814.pdf Shrinivasa, M. (2020, August 19). Mysuru: Unable to get smart phone for online classes, girl commits suicide. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysuru/mysuru-­u nable-­t o-­g et-­s martphone-­f or-­o nline-­ classes-­girl-­commits-­suicide/articleshow/77615140.cms Shurchkov, O. (2020, April 24). Is COVID-19 turning back the clock on gender equality in academia? https://medium.com/@olga.shurchkov/is-­covid-­19-­ turning-­back-­the-­clock-­on-­gender-­equality-­in-­academia-­70c00d6b8ba1 Sidpra, J., Abomeli, D., Hameed, B., Baker, J., & Mankad, K. (2020). Rise in the incidence of abusive head trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 106(3). https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-­ 2020-­319872 Singhal, A. (2020, April 13). Post Covid-19: The impact on private consumption. Financial Express. https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/post-­covid-­19-­ the-­impact-­on-­private-­consumption/1926322/ Soria, K. M., Horgos, B., & Luu, K. (2020). Undergraduates’ mental health during the pandemic: New insights into links with financial hardships, academic obstacles, and support. SERU Consortium, University of California – Berkeley and University of Minnesota. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0p5122xp Taub, A. (2020, April 6). A new covid-19 crisis: Domestic abuse rises worldwide. The New  York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/ coronavirus-­domestic-­violence.html The Economic Times. (2020, April 17). India witnesses steep rise in crime against women amid lockdown, 587 complaints received: NCW. https://economictimes. indiatimes.com/news/politics-­a nd-­n ation/india-­w itnesses-­s teep-­r ise-­i n-­ crime-­against-­women-­amid-­lockdown-­587-­complaints-­received-­ncw/articleshow/75201412.cms The Hindu. (2017, March 17). With India at 148th in number of women MPs, UN official moots quotas. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-­ at-­148th-­in-­number-­of-­women-­mps/article17471164.ece#

34 

I. GEORGE AND M. KURUVILLA

Thoreson, R. (2020, May 13). Covid-19 backlash targets LGBT people in South Korea. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/13/ covid-­19-­backlash-­targets-­lgbt-­people-­south-­korea UK Research and Innovation. (2020, April 17). Sex, gender and Covid-19. https:// coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/cad0007/ UN Women. (2020a). Covid-19 and its economic toll on women: The story behind the numbers. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/ feature-­covid-­19-­economic-­impacts-­on-­women UN Women. (2020b). The shadow pandemic: Violence against women during Covid-19. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-­focus/in-­focus-­gender-­ equality-­i n-­C OVID-­1 9-­r esponse/violence-­a gainst-­w omen-­d uring­COVID-­19 UN Women. (2020c, March 9). Opening statement by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/3/speech-­ed­phumzile-­csw64 UN Women. (2020d). Visualising the data: Women’s representation in society. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-­l ibrar y/multimedia/2020/2/ infographic-­visualizing-­the-­data-­womens-­representation UN Women. (2021). Women in politics: New data shows growth but also setbacks. https://www.ipu.org/news/women-­in-­politics-­2021 UNFPA (Ed.). (2015). Shelter from the storm: A transformative agenda for women and girls in a crisis-prone world. United Nations Population Fund. UNFPA. (2020). New UNFPA projections predict calamitous impact on women’s health as Covid-19 pandemic continues. https://www.unfpa.org/press/ new-­unfpa-­projections-­predict-­calamitous-­impact-­womens-­health-­covid-­19-­ pandemic-­continues United Nations. (2020a). Policy brief: The impact of Covid-19 on women. https:// www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/policy_brief_on_covid_impact_on_ women_9_apr_2020_updated.pdf United Nations. (2020b). Policy brief: Education during Covid-19 and beyond. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_covid-­19_and_ education_august_2020.pdf Vincent-Lamarre, P., Sugimoto, C.R., & Larivière, Vincent. (2020, May 19). The decline of women’s research production during the coronavirus pandemic. Nature Index. https://www.natureindex.com/news-­blog/decline-­women-­ scientist-­research-­publishing-­production-­coronavirus-­pandemic WEF. (2021). Global Gender Gap Report 2021. World Economic Forum, Switzerland. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf WHO. (2015). Gender and health. World Health Organisation. https://www. who.int/health-­topics/gender#tab=tab_1

1  INTRODUCTION: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COVID-19 

35

WHO. (2019). Female health workers drive global health. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news-­room/commentaries/detail/ female-­health-­workers-­drive-­global-­health WHO. (2020a). Global status report on preventing violence against children. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/teams/social-­determinants-­of-­ health/violence-­p revention/global-­s tatus-­r eport-­o n-­v iolence-­a gainst­children-­2020 WHO. (2020b). COVID-19 and violence against women: What the health sector/ system can do. World Health Organisation. https://apps.who.int/iris/ handle/10665/331699 WHO. (2021). Covid-19 confirmed cases and deaths. World Health Organisation. https://covid19.who.int/region/searo/country/in Yanez, N. D., Weiss, N. S., Romand, J. A., & Treggiari, M. M. (2020). COVID-19 mortality risk for older men and women. BMC Public Health, 20, 1742. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-­020-­09826-­8

CHAPTER 2

The Pandemic Crisis and Economic Engagement of Women: A Historical Enquiry on Implications of Catastrophes on Female Economic Participation Bindu Balagopal and Chacko Jose P.

Introduction The world is experiencing the ravages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The socio-economic repercussions of the pandemic are felt all over the world. The world that was known to humankind has disappeared. A new normal has set in, which has changed the existing contours of economic and social life. Historically, women have been the victims of all major catastrophes. The present pandemic has widened the gender gaps in societies. In a post-pandemic society, the equations are going to change. The role of women and the place they occupy in society may change beyond recognition. The existing B. Balagopal Department of Economics, Government Victoria College, Palakkad, India e-mail: [email protected] Chacko Jose P. (*) Department of Economics, Sacred Heart College, Chalakudy, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 I. George, M. Kuruvilla (eds.), Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85335-8_2

37

38 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

fabric of social structure delineates women’s economic and social status. Women’s role in the labour market is undergoing transformations under the onslaught of Covid-19. Their existence is threatened; they are being pushed back from workspaces to the confines of family. Nevertheless, the emerging economic structures are ill-defined to make a precise post-Covid analysis. The world has survived many catastrophes in the past century. It has witnessed great depressions, world wars, financial crises and epidemics. The Great Depression of the 1930s, the war and post-war periods of the 1940s, the financial crisis that has rocked the Western world and the ongoing raging pandemic have all caused repercussions in the world economy. Whether it be wars, natural calamities, or economic crisis, women are impacted more than men due to multiple interlinkages of socio-economic and cultural factors (World Economic Forum, 2021a). The world has seen women taking up the slack in catastrophes such as world wars, depressions, epidemics and revolutions. Nevertheless, there was a method to it; during world wars, women took up many jobs on the war front and offered help in several ways to the cause of war. Similarly, during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs, women went back to sustenance and survival, which is considered care work (Ferrant et al., 2014). Women have always been survivors, their brains being wired for the continuance of the species. They were as relentless as men or even more so when it was a question of survival. Women, in general, are impacted primarily because of the roles imposed on them by the hierarchical and gender stereotyping of society (Sultana, 2012). Growth objectives, targets and strategic action are designed and formulated by political leadership and administration, which has a built-in middle-class gender bias (McGinn & Oh, 2017). In this background, this chapter assesses how the crisis caused by the pandemic has impacted the productivity and economic engagements of women and how it widened the existing gender inequalities. A historical survey of four periods of upheavals from the past century (1920–2020), namely the Great Depression of the 1930s, World War II (1945), the Economic Recession of 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic, and their impacts on female economic participation are attempted in this chapter. From the vantage point of 2020, a look back at 1920–2020 brings out periods of unparalleled catastrophes and calamities. World wars have been fought, depressions and economic crises have occurred, each leaving a trail of suffering. World wars and global recessions affected the whole world, and it is their economic fallouts that make these events comparable. Cost in human lives, destruction of property and wealth, and cost in human

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

39

suffering were most visible in world wars. The upheaval was slow in coming and less visible in the recession, although the economic destruction was even more disastrous. In the last 100  years, technological advancement and globalisation made a health crisis, which would have been confined to a specific area of the globe, into a pandemic affecting the lives of the whole of humankind. In 2020–2021, Covid-19 was spreading like a radioactive cloud, causing devastation in its wake. The Great Depression and Its Impact on Women The Great Depression of the 1930s was considered to be the most severe catastrophe which affected the world. Starting from the stock market crash in the US in 1929 to the collapse of the business world, the number of goods and services produced fell by one third, about 25% of the labour force was unemployed, stock market assets lost 80% of their value, the number of suicides escalated to an all-time high, and the financial world rocked (The Economic Times, 2017). The magnitude of the Great Depression was immense, and its severity continued unabated for a large number of years right up to the end of the Second World War. However, the effects of the Great Depression on men and women were different. During the Great Depression, women were more insulated than men as the areas hard hit were mainly male-centric. Women mostly worked in service industries as domestic help, nurses, maids, teachers and clerks and could find employment even at the height of the recession. Their income played a crucial role in supporting the family through the period (Sabena, 2018). Juliet Mitchell and other Marxist feminists argue that women serve as a reserve army of workers kept in abeyance. They can be brought to the labour market when labour is scarce and withdrawn when abundant. When labour is in surplus, women are forced to retreat into unpaid work in households (Mitchell, 1971). The Great Depression was a period of severe misery when suicides escalated to a horrendous total. In the census reports of April 1930, the US unemployment was 4.70% for women and 7.10% for men, which is evidence for the fact that women were less affected than men by the Great Depression. But it is to be noted that women’s labour was cheaper compared to that of men. Nevertheless, there was a gradual worsening of women’s situation when the Great Depression intensified. Women had to substitute more and more homemade goods in place of consumer goods as the family income

40 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

dwindled. As a result, they had to stretch available resources to make ends meet. Also, they had to deal with the psychological problems resulting from employment loss (Milkman, 1976). There was a marked increase in the employment of older women after the period of the Great Depression. Before the 1930s, women entered the employment scene in their twenties and left the labour market by the time they got married. However, women of working age in the early 1930s either remained in employment till retirement or left and re-entered the labour market. The change was attributed to the economic deterioration which persisted during this period (Bellou & Cardia, 2021). Women who entered the labour market suffered the stigma of taking away jobs from the ‘more deserving men’. There was no choice for women but to work because they had to raise money to support their families. Women could only fill the jobs of cleaners, nurses, maids and clerks, given society’s existing social structure. The Great Depression directly hit male-­ dominated industries like the manufacturing sector and heavy industries. According to census figures of the US, the percentage of employed women, 14 and older, rose during the Great Depression from 24.3  in 1930 to 25.4 in 1940, a gain of two million jobs. Impact of War and Post-War Period on Women With the beginning of World War II in the 1940s, there was a surge of investment in industries producing war-related products. Women were employed in many capacities during the period of war in the army and navy. Jobs that were previously delineated for men began to be explored by women. World War II witnessed a massive change in women’s employment. More than six million women entered the labour market additionally during this period, leading to more than 50% of the female labour force. In industries related to war, the new entrants worked in male-centric jobs like aircraft manufacturing and other wartime industries. The age composition of women entering the labour force also changed during this period. More women between the age group of 14–19 and 35–44 began to join the workforce. Girls below 20 joined the workforce in large numbers during wartime. In normal times they would have been in school completing their education. Another significant change was that the proportion of married women entering the labour force increased compared to the pre-war period (US Department of Labour, 1946). Thus World War II was considered a turning point in the lives of women. Education

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

41

and secretarial training enhanced women’s capabilities in the long run. When married women began to enter the labour force, it caused significant changes in women’s economic status in society (Goldin, 1991). Just as Rose (2018) concludes, there was a wartime boom in the women labour force. The peak of women’s employment was in July 1944 when women formed more than one-third of the total labour force, mainly engaged in non-agricultural work. Nevertheless, between 1945 and 1946, there was a fall in employment in non-agricultural work. When the war was over, many women left the employment scene (Breen, 2001). Still, the number of women employed in the post-war period was much higher than that in the pre-war period. This period also witnessed a change in occupational distribution. The number of women employed in domestic service declined. Instead, more women began to be employed in the manufacturing sector (Goldin, 1991). Layoffs of women workers were widespread during the post-war period (Gabin, 1982). In 1946 the number of women workers was less by four million compared to that in 1944. The employment of women in the manufacturing sector declined by 1.5 million between 1944 and 1946 (Milkman, 1976). However, there was a tendency among women in the post-war period to seek employment rather than being homemakers. Another significant change that occurred was the fall in the birth rate. This may be because women’s reproductive age group declined as women began to spend a large part of their life in the paid labour force (Lim, 2002). After the war, women were expected to go back to their old roles, which many women did not find easy. Apart from all the privations of the post-war world, women began to question the old structures and accept new value systems. Thus, war and the post-war period challenged the existing roles of men and women in traditionally maintained society. New roles were identified, which were more appropriate for both men and women. As a result, there was a conflict in gender reconstruction, delineating power and status in society (Yellen, 2020). For analysing the new gender perspectives, the post-war era’s cultural patterns and social structures need to be examined. When women and men started to reappropriate roles in the changing scenario, relations, family and friendships also changed into new arenas (Sorensen, 1999).

42 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

Women and the 2008 Crisis The economic recession of 2008 has been accepted as the most severe financial crisis that has affected the world since the Great Depression (Verick & Islam, 2010). Unfortunately, most of the nations succumbed to the crisis irrespective of their stage of economic development. It had repercussions reverberating throughout the world. In countries where gender inequality existed, in times of crisis, when the quantity and quality of food in the family budget had to be reduced, the girl children were taken out of school first. When medicines have to be cut back, it is the women who suffered most; they are the victims of violence, they are the people forced to do penal work, and they are forced to sell themselves and face sexual harassment (UNAIDS, 2012). Universality exists in the overall macroeconomic trends of financial crises that have affected many countries over the 2008–2009 period. It is an accepted fact that the financial crisis had overwhelming effects on the real economy, especially for developing nations since the 1980s. Even though the origin of the crisis was in the financial sector, it soon engulfed the other sectors of the economy. The resulting deficiency in liquidity led to bank failures and the collapse of financial assets. The decline of economic activity eventually led to unemployment and a low standard of living, whereby most women got engaged in unpaid labour (Ghosh, 2013). Global macroeconomic shocks impacted the lives of women and children worldwide and made serious inroads into the existing gender equality (ILO, 2009). For example, the housing crisis and the collapse of the investment bubble in 2008 were the beginning of a financial crisis that rocked the world (Baker, 2014). In addition, food and fuel price shocks combined with economic downturns badly hit the vulnerable sections of society, primarily women and children. When the governments worldwide reduced public spending, it often increased private expense for health and education, which in turn were setbacks to women and children (Pearson & Sweetman, 2011). Women had to resort to unstable employment in the informal sector or care for children and look after sick family members during the 2008 economic crisis (DCOMM, 2009).

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

43

Gendered Impact of Economic Crisis Different phases of the crisis like recession, rebound and austerity, affect men and women differently. This is often discussed using the framework of three hypotheses: the substitution hypothesis, buffer hypothesis, and sex segregation hypothesis. It is a common practice that in times of economic downturn, firms try to reduce production cost by substituting expensive labour force with cheaper ones. The substitution hypothesis puts forward the idea that women’s labour is considered inferior and less costly (Parpart et al., 2000). Resultantly women may get more employment during periods of economic downswings. The buffer hypothesis talks about internal labour markets. A second labour market exists where the quality of jobs is poor, and the wage rate is low. Competition is high, and flexibility exists in the secondary market. This, along with weak bargaining power, leads to low-paid jobs for women. These may be specific to certain sectors where jobs are women-oriented. Thus, women serve as a fluid force to be tapped under times of expansion of demand and ejected during times of contraction of demand. In the sex segregation hypothesis, the labour market is envisaged as sex-segregated. Occupations are classified based on gender. Depending upon which sectors are affected by the downturn, men or women may fall victim to the crisis. These hypotheses serve to comprehend the gender dimensions of a crisis (Perivier, 2014). The onslaught of a crisis worsens gender disparities within households. This causes a fall in opportunities open to women and reduces their social empowerment. The shortage of food supply causes women to eat less, even at the cost of their health. During times of economic hardships, it is the women who have to bear the brunt. Malnutrition of women and children is often the consequence. In addition, women’s financial dependence on men increases during a crisis, leading to increased decision-making power for men in households (Mohindra et al., 2011). The employment of women is adversely affected during periods of economic crisis. Women’s paid work is considered more flexible and, as such, can be laid off during times of low job openings. Also, there is the preconceived notion that man is the earning member of a family, so man should have the priority in selection for a job. The problem of unemployment can be demoralising for anyone who loses their job. However, for women losing paid work is distressing on several fronts. As women are usually in low-paid work, they have fewer savings, leading to a greater risk of imminent poverty (Bleiweis et  al., 2020). This will have particularly severe

44 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

effects on single women, especially single mothers. The bearing of the family’s increased financial responsibilities may also mean that they are more likely to undertake informal and exploitative vulnerable work to support children. In times of crisis, the unemployment rate of women is high, especially for export-oriented economies. A fall in exports due to the recession adversely affects the plight of women as they constitute 60–80% of workers in the manufacturing sector (United Nations, 2011). When job opportunities for women fall, they are forced to take up employment in less secure jobs or migrate to faraway places searching for jobs and may fall victims to human traffickers who manipulate them and trap them in forced labour, often resulting in sexual exploitation. Creating jobs by governments to reduce the severity of the crisis helps men more than women since large infrastructure projects are initiated during this period (Antonopoulos, 2021). Nevertheless, industries in which women are traditionally engaged are usually not promoted, intensifying women’s unemployment. It is evident from the preceding discussion that economic and financial crisis puts a disproportionate burden on women, who are often concentrated in vulnerable employment, are more likely to be unemployed than men, tend to have lower unemployment and social security benefits, and have unequal access to and control over economic and financial resources. Impact of Covid-19 on Women In analysing women’s post-pandemic status, one is faced with the scenario visualised by creative writers long ago. The British novelist Nevil Shute in 1957 wrote a post-apocalyptic novel titled ‘On the Beach’ (Shute, 1957). The novel depicts the plight of a group of individuals after World War III. The story evolves in Melbourne, Australia, a year or so after a nuclear World War III.  This final world war was so devastating that radioactive clouds slowly travelled the earth, killing all people and animals in its aftermath. Radiation sickness spreads across countries, and people are waiting for imminent death. The novel discusses the survival instincts of people and how people adapt to changed circumstances. The story depicts women’s lives in different social strata and how they adapt to the new state of affairs. A character in the novel, a housewife, plants orange trees in her garden, which will bear fruit in 20 years. Though the man in the house tries to prevent her from doing it, saying that they will never live to see it

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

45

bear fruit, she is not deterred. Another character is a young woman faced with the knowledge that she will never have a family, never bear children, decides to equip herself for secretarial work studying shorthand and typing. She also knows very well that she will never be able to put her training to work, and all that is waiting for her is a painful death. The novel portrays women’s fighting spirit; they are unwilling to lie down and die. In the current world order of the Covid-19 pandemic, women adapted to lockdown and shutdown. The survival instincts and strategies adopted by women often guide them to come out unscathed by the onslaught of disasters of any dimension. Impacts of a crisis are never gender-neutral, and so is the case with the Covid-19 pandemic. According to International Labour Organization’s (ILO) quick estimates, 5% of all working women lost their jobs due to the pandemic, compared to 3.9% of employed men International Labour Organization (ILO, 2021). The pandemic has regressively affected women’s economic and productive engagements as in all upheavals in the past. The female labour force participation rate in the United States had fallen below 56% by January 2021; the rate was that low only back in 1987 (Djankov et al., 2021). The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was immediately manifested in the shutdown of productive enterprises and the loss of employment. Due to lockdowns, the sudden and unplanned halt of the economy paralysed both the public and private production sectors. Covid-19 and Economic Engagements of Indian Women Before examining the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women in India, the chapter examines the economic status of women in the country and how various situations impacted the existing gender structure. The Economic Status of Women in India In a developing country like India, where gender disparity is significant, women’s livelihood is affected disproportionately compared to men due to the pandemic. Many countries, including India, have abysmally low gender empowerment measures. The plight of women during and after Covid-19 will have to be examined, concerning their social and economic role in society. The present chapter analyses the existing literature and statistics to assess the economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic on

46 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

women’s livelihood. The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 (World Economic Forum, 2021b) states that globally, the average distance completed to parity is 68%, a step back compared to 2020 (0.6% points). The report pointed out that it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide. For this purpose, the gender parameters in India are examined based on the 2011 census. Various researchers, development agencies and international organisations have come up with several indicators which reflect the adverse gender indices of the Indian population. For example, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has suggested the following 12 indicators to represent India’s unfavourable gender situations (ADB, 2013). (a) The Census of India 2011 shows a fall in sex ratio when considering children below age seven. The sex ratio was 927 girls per 1000 in 2001, but it dropped to 914 per 1000 in 2011. (b) Another vital variable is the significant change in the infant mortality rate, which is higher for girls than boys. A high female infant mortality rate exists in India, mainly because of the discriminatory attitudes of society towards women. (c) An alternative indicator is the high maternal mortality rate. A host of factors such as early marriage, low nutrition, inadequate healthcare facilities, minor role in decision-making, and lack of awareness of family planning programmes contribute towards the high maternal mortality rate. (d) An additional parameter is the low work participation rate of women. India has only 36% of female work participation in the overall labour ratio. More alarmingly, for professional and technical workers, the figure is only 21%. On economic and gender parameters, in Asia, the only six countries which perform worse than India are Iran, Bahrain, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. (e) If the most prominent gender parameters Gender Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) are considered, all the countries with which India compares itself in recent times, such as Brazil, China and Russia, are well above India. (f) Another significant factor indicating gender inequality could be the high level of violence against women in India, of which domestic violence forms a substantial component. (g) Low economic participation, low productivity and low returns reduce the quality of life of women.

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

47

(h) Women are engaged more in agriculture and allied activities than in industry and service sectors which are growth-oriented and more gainful. (i) Women have a lower share of ownership of assets. (j) Women have highly uneven access to financial services. (k) Lack of proper sanitation, fuel shortage and water scarcity reduce the well-being of women. (l) Transportation problems are acute for women. The ADB findings depict the actual plight of women in Indian society. It was only during the 1970s that women were recognised as initiators of economic development. Previously their role in the economy was confined to that of homemakers. Health and nutritional programmes were initiated for them to sustain their status as mothers. The seventies brought about an attitudinal shift. Women were brought to the forefront of embracing more productive roles (Beneria et al., 2015). As Ghani et al. (2014) proposed, there is a direct linkage between political reservations and economic empowerment. The 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution of India giving women reservation for representation in local bodies have enhanced women’s capabilities that are transmitted into women’s employment. As a result, more women began to exhibit entrepreneurial ability leading to economic empowerment. This increase in women entrepreneurs was mainly seen in the traditional sectors in which women were engaged. Nevertheless, gender inequality is quite evident in the labour market of India. Women have come to the forefront in the urban labour market, but this is not true for the entire country. According to the various rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) data, women’s labour force participation has declined in rural areas. There is also significant divergence as regards caste, tribe, state and so on. Female mobility is also a factor that affects the work participation rate (Das & Mehta, 2012). Women’s participation in the total workforce has increased in developing economies since the middle of the twentieth century (Bezbaruah, 2015). India’s social mindset is a curious mixture of social conditioning, traditional beliefs, patriarchal values, and an ambivalent legal system. It is feudal and patriarchal, and women belonging to all strata in society are victims of archaic stereotyping and gender insensitivity. Women’s labour force participation in India is showing a declining trend during the last two decades (ILO, 2021).

48 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

The ILO observes that the primary reason for the sharp decline in female labour force participation in India is the lack of employment opportunities for women, owing to factors such as occupational segregation (Kapsos et al., 2014). Very often, the presence of women in low-skilled jobs can be attributed to a low level of education and lack of training in skilled jobs. Gender stereotyping of tasks leaves them confined to stipulated works. Time constraint and dual responsibilities also adversely affect women’s job prospects (ICRW, 2014). Covid-19 has impacted women’s lives much more intensely than that of men. Quarantine, social distancing, closure of small businesses, and layoffs have added pressure to women’s economic position. In a vast majority of households in the lower socio-economic strata, it is the women who make ends meet with the family budget, and they had to adapt themselves to tightened budgets. Women earn less worldwide, save less, are employed in less productive sectors, and work in the informal sector (United Nations, 2020); hence their savings got expended in no time with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, the sectors most affected were women-­ centric, for instance, services, tourism and hospitality. Shutting down of schools demanded women’s services at home for the care of children. Women’s unpaid work has increased during the Covid-19 period (Chauhan, 2020). Care for older persons is also a severe problem during the pandemic, requiring women’s services at home (Power, 2020). The pandemic turned out to be ‘home detention’ for women as the lack of public transportation threatened women’s mobility (Jain & Singh, 2020). Economic uncertainty is not just employment and income loss in the present. It has an escalating effect on the future lives of women and girls. School closures and online education are predicted to result in more girl children opting out of the educational stream, indirectly affecting their future labour force participation. Impacts on education and jobs in turn can have long-lasting significance that, if unaddressed, will reverse hard-won gains in gender equality (Hanif & Pedersen, 2020). The loss of employment in different sectors also had varied impacts on women. For instance, the loss of jobs in the construction and manufacturing sectors in the urban conglomerates led to large-scale reverse migration (Irudaya Rajan et al., 2020). This reverse migration, in most cases, resulted in mass fleeing of migrant families walking long distances, causing misery to women and children. Women working in the formal sector form a minority and are comparatively less vulnerable than those working in the informal sector. Similarly,

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

49

technologically educated women are also less affected and have access to jobs in the ‘work from home’ schedules. But they are also not fully spared of the pandemic impacts. At the beginning of the pandemic, there were high hopes that the global shift to home-working could mean childcare and chores to be divided equally among couples. However, this did not materialise. It merely created a double burden for women, leaving them to juggle domestic work and their paid jobs in their day-to-day existence. Family systems are reverting to more traditional structures due to the closure of schools, day-care centres and summer camps (Reichelt et  al., 2021). Dual earner families where both men and women work find it difficult to sustain working because there is no one to care for children at home. In micro families, the ability of both couples to work is disappearing because the maid who used to look after children is no more available. The Covid-19 situation impacted women on the social fronts also (UN Women, 2020). Women are being pushed back into their conventional roles while being confined at homes. Many sectors are affected by the crisis, which compromises women’s decision-making power in economic and political spheres, leading to flared gender gaps in accessing essential services, controlling assets, and managing resources. Women were already poorly represented in positions of power in economic and political spheres. The lockdown puts at risk the gains at the household level and hinders women from participating in decision-making (Rivera et al., 2020). An investigation of how the pandemic affected women of different economic strata will be meaningful, for instance, examining how it affected women belonging to society’s upper, middle and lower strata. All of them are impacted by the pandemic in diverse ways. Women of the upper strata of society, be it working women or housewives, find that their work burden has increased during the pandemic. In the lockdown phase of Covid-19, the availability of domestic labour had almost stopped. Women of the higher-income group had to do manual work in the absence of domestic labour. This has caused an increased purchase of consumer durables like dishwashers, washing machines and robots for house cleaning (Majumdar, 2020). Though consumer durables help and their purchase gives them momentary relief, women are cooped up inside the house most of the day. They have done one crucial economic function; they have propped up the demand for consumer durables of the labour-saving variety. The macroeconomic fallout is significant as this will eventually cause human labour to be displaced by machines. When and if the Covid-19 period gets over, this may result in a fall in women’s employment in

50 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

domestic services. The aftermath of the pandemic may be the rising unemployment of women in the informal sector. Though the demand for consumer durables increased, the benefits went not to small or medium concerns but giant e-commerce corporates. The fear of pandemic increased the online purchase of goods among women in the high-income groups. An examination of the impact of the lockdown on the middle-class women who used to be clerks, sales executives or part-time workers gives valuable insights into the intricacies of the minute issues involved. Their jobs were also gone during the lockdown. When most shops and private concerns were closed, there was no longer any need for even low-paid labour. They did not have the privilege of buying home equipment. Their incomes were just sufficient to keep the household going at the current level. But the lockdown, which went along with the pandemic, led to the curtailment of some ostentatious spending. To some extent, it was a relief that marriages and deaths went on without splendour and conspicuous spending. The desire of the middle class to emulate the rich was weakened during the lockdown. However, this had severe macroeconomic fallout since many services or industries that depended on such events faced a crisis. The beauty industry, the marriage industry, the gyms, and the manufacturers associated with it were at a standstill, and their demand got deferred to an indefinite period. At the macro level, there was a loss of jobs due to pushback to minimalism. Though this may look intrinsically desirable, its macroeconomic consequences are massively negative—deficiency of demand that resulted from the loss of employment exacerbated the recession caused by the pandemic. Adherence to minimalistic living, spending less ultimately caused a fall in production, which in turn produced a multiplier effect leading to an increase in unemployment. An analysis of the lower-middle-class women’s coping strategies, the people who survive with difficulty, will be insightful. Most of them were pushed back to below subsistence levels. To overcome the crisis, they tried their hand at different jobs. For instance, women who did domestic work have become vegetable vendors, and vegetable vendors moved to daily wage jobs (Azim Premji University, 2021). Many women stopped working during Covid-19 through no fault of their own (Coury et al., 2020). Since they are over-represented in insecure hourly work, and since the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic are hospitality, leisure, retail and tourism, female workers have lost their jobs or been furloughed at a higher rate. Unless the government takes the initiative, there will be no jobs

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

51

available to such people. Instead, they look for dole-outs from the government. The pandemic will be remembered forever, at least in India, by the long line of migrant labourers, including women trying to walk thousands of kilometres to get back home. Instead of helping similarly placed humans, people have become scared of each other. They forever hear of social distancing, and the distance from one individual to the next has become infinitely long.

Conclusion Humanity has subsisted in concentration camps, just living from one day to the next. During the plague—the period called ‘black death’—wagons were brought to the front door demanding ‘bring out your dead’. Humanity survived two major World Wars and post-war trauma. It endured the period of the Great Depression where business people were reduced to paupers in the blink of an eye when massive scale unemployment and mass suicides were rampant. A war, a financial crisis and a pandemic are all different when it comes to their impact on the lives of women. But in all these contexts, women are pushed into stereotypes from which they cannot escape. Nevertheless, war is different in the sense that women are asked to leave homes and join the fight. Amidst all the trauma of war, they have to fight along with men figuratively. They might not be fighting on the war front. Still, they are counted. Women came out and worked as nurses, secretaries, storekeepers, caregivers, ambulance drivers, and whatever capacity they could. The Great Depression and the financial crisis of 2008 pushed women onto the employment scene. When men lost jobs, women who were homemakers began to take up menial jobs. Thus both the war and the recession have pushed women out of the homes to join the labour force. The pandemic, on the other hand, has caused women to be pulled back into their respective homes. The dark days of the pandemic have come, taking away the limited space that women had. The house one lives in has become the place for work and leisure too. It is a difficult situation for everyone, but more so for women. The limited freedom they enjoyed outside has come to an end. Along with the paid job they did outside, the unpaid job of housekeeping settles on them. In effect, women are pushed back, forced to assume the old stereotype of the homemaker. While the pandemic pushes

52 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

everyone back to their own limited spaces, the misery inside the house turns to violence, and women inside the house become extremely vulnerable to domestic violence. The consequences of the pandemic will remain even after the severity of the pandemic eases off, as women may have to suffer long-term declines in workforce participation and income. The fallout will be of utmost severity for the most vulnerable women in society, those who are rarely in the headlines: migrant workers, refugees, marginalised racial and ethnic groups, single-parent households, youth and the poorest of the world. The emerging society in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic should adopt specific endeavours to bring women to the forefront. For envisaging an economy of growth with equity, the policymakers should initiate various welfare measures to bring gender equity and distributive justice. Economic packages can be initiated with direct cash transfers, unemployment benefits, tax cuts, child support and so on. The United Nations suggests that the central and commercial banks of all nations should develop a unique gender-sensitive financial monitoring system to ensure that loans and cash transfers, which are offered as a pandemic recovery mechanism, target and reach vulnerable women. Such a scheme should also keep track of such payments and ensure that money does not end up in the hands of men or the less needy (UN Women, 2020). Women-owned businesses should be given special funding as well as subsidies, loans and tax reliefs. The social protection system should be enforced for women workers. The existing gender pay gap should be mitigated. More measures should be taken to support families with paid and unpaid work. However, interestingly many women do not feel that the Covid-19 responses of the government had focused on issues that matter most to them (Women’s Budget Group, 2021). Covid-19 pandemic has been rightly termed as a ‘national emergency for women’. The burden women shoulder in the family and labour force has escalated to enormous proportions causing distortions in the family framework. Millions of women have lost jobs, and even those employed suffer from salary cutbacks causing severe inroads in the family budget. Women always bear the brunt of every crisis as they are expected to be family makers apart from comprising part of the labour force. Economic, mental and physical bottlenecks confront them in their struggle to survive. Solutions to address the problems should involve a paradigm shift that brings women to the forefront of society so that they play a prominent role in shaping the emerging economy.

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

53

References Antonopoulos, R. (2021). Social protection for women. United Nations, UN Chronicle. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/social-­protection-­ women Asian Development Bank. (Ed.). (2013). India: Gender equality diagnostic of selected sectors. https://www.adb.org/documents/india-­gender-­equality-­ diagnostic-­selected-­sectors Azim Premji University. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods of informal sector workers and vulnerable groups in Bengaluru: A view from the ground. https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/pdf/COVID19-­Impact-­on-­ Informal-­Sector-­Bengaluru.pdf Baker, A.  C. (2014). Eroding the wealth of women: Gender and the subprime foreclosure crisis. Social Service Review, 88(1), 59–91. https://doi. org/10.1086/675391 Bellou, A., & Cardia, E. (2021). The great depression and the rise of female employment: A new hypothesis. Explorations in Economic History, 80, 101383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101383 Beneria, L., Berik, G., & Floro, M. (2015). Gender, development and globalisation economics as if all people mattered. Routledge. Bezbaruah, S. (2015). Banking on equality: Women, work and employment in the banking sector in India. Routledge. Bleiweis, R., Boesch, D., & Gaines, A. C. (2020). The basic facts about women in poverty. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/ issues/women/reports/2020/08/03/488536/basic-­facts-­women-­poverty/ Breen, W. J. (2001). Women and work: The limits of war manpower commission policy in world war II. Australasian Journal of American Studies, 20(2). Chauhan, P. (2020). Gendering COVID-19: Impact of the pandemic on women’s burden of unpaid work in India. Gender Issues. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s12147-­020-­09269-­w Coury, S., Huang, J., Kumar, A., Prince, S., Krivkovich, A., & Yee, L. (2020). Women in the workplace 2020. McKinsey. https://wiw-­report.s3.amazonaws. com/Women_in_the_Workplace_2020.pdf Das, M.  B., & Mehta, S.  K. (2012). Poverty and social exclusion in India. World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/ handle/10986/26338/114156-­B RI-­I ndia-­P SE-­w omen-­B rief-­P UBLIC. pdf?sequence=1 DCOMM. (2009). Financial crisis: The gender dimension. World of Work – The Magazine of ILO, 65, 4–7. Djankov, S., Goldberg, P. K., Hyland, M., & Zhang, E. (2021). COVID-19 widens the gender gap in labour force participation. Peterson Institute for International

54 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

Economics. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-­economic-­issues-­watch/ covid-­19-­widens-­gender-­gap-­labor-­force-­participation Ferrant, G., Pesando, L.  M., & Nowacka, K. (2014). Unpaid care work: The missing link in the analysis of gender gaps in labour outcomes. OECD Development Centre. https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-­gender/ Unpaid_care_work.pdf Gabin, N. (1982). They have placed a penalty on womanhood: The protest actions of women auto workers in Detroit-area UAW locals, 1945-1947. Feminist Studies, 8(2), 373–398. https://doi.org/10.2307/3177568 Ghani, E., Kerr, W.  R., & O’Connell, S.  D. (2014). Political reservations and women’s entrepreneurship in India. Journal of Development Economics, 108, 138–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.01.008 Goldin, C. D. (1991). The role of world war ii in the rise of women’s employment. The American Economic Review, 81(4), 741–756. Great Depression: Market crash of 1929: Some facts of the economic downturn. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/miscellaneous/market-crash-of-1929-some-facts-of-the-economicdownturn/articleshow/61166918.cms?from=mdr Ghosh, J. (2013). Economic crises and women’s work: Exploring progressive strategies in a rapidly changing global environment. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. https://www.unwomen. org/-/media/headquar ters/attachments/sections/librar y/publications/2013/1/economic-crisesand-womens-work%20pdf.pdf?la=en&vs=1454 Hanif, M., & Pedersen, G.  G. (2020). Has gender equality been put into lockdown. Actionaid International. https://actionaid.org/stories/2020/ has-­gender-­equality-­been-­put-­lockdown ICRW. (2014). Gender issues in the MSME sector in India. World Bank. https:// openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/28531/119304-­ WP-­IN-­TF013641-­Gender-­in-­MSME-­Aug-­2014-­PUBLIC.pdf?sequence=1 &isAllowed=y ILO. (2009). Global employment trends for women. ILO. https://www.ilo.org/ wcmsp5/groups/public/%2D%2D-­d greports/%2D%2D-­d comm/documents/publication/wcms_103456.pdf ILO. (2021). Labour force participation rate, female (% female population ages 15+) (modelled ILO estimate)-India. International Labour Organisation. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=IN Irudaya Rajan, S., Sivakumar, P., & Srinivasan, A. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and internal labour migration in India: A ‘crisis of mobility’. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 63(4), 1021–1039. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s41027-­020-­00293-­8

2  THE PANDEMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT OF WOMEN… 

55

Jain, S., & Singh, J. (2020). Gendered public transport as an essential service during the pandemic. Observer Research Foundation. https://www.orfonline.org/ expert-­speak/gendered-­public-­transport-­essential-­service-­pandemic/ Kapsos, S., Bourmpoula, E., & Silberman, A. (2014). Why is female labour force participation declining so sharply in India. International Labour Office. https:// www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/%2D%2D-­dgreports/%2D%2D-­inst/ documents/publication/wcms_250977.pdf Lim, L.  L. (2002). Female labour-force participation. United Nations. https:// www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/fertility/ fertility-­transition.asp Majumdar, R. (2020). Lockdown drives demand for home automation appliances. Mint. https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-­news/lockdown-­drives-­ demand-­for-­home-­automation-­appliances-­11592311112863.html McGinn, K. L., & Oh, E. (2017). Gender, social class, and women’s employment. Current Opinion in Psychology, 18, 84–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. copsyc.2017.07.012 Milkman, R. (1976). Women’s work and economic crisis: Some lessons of the great depression. Review of Radical Political Economics, 8(1). https://doi. org/10.1177/048661347600800107 Mitchell, J. (1971). Woman’s estate. Pantheon. Mohindra, K. S., Labonte, R., & Spitzer, D. (2011). The global financial crisis: Whither women’s health. Critical Public Health, 21(3), 273–287. https://doi. org/10.1080/09581596.2010.539593 Parpart, J. L., Connelly, P. M., & Barriteau, E. V. (2000). Theoretical perspectives on gender and development. International Development Research Centre. https://prd-­idrc.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/openebooks/272-­4/ index.html Pearson, R., & Sweetman, C. (2011). Gender and the economic crisis (Oxfam GB). Practical Action Publishing. https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/121671/bk-­gender-­economic-­crisis-­100211-­en.pdf?s equence=1&isAllowed=y Perivier, H. (2014). Men and women during the economic crisis: Employment trends in eight European countries. Revue de l’OFCE, 2(2), 41–84. https:// doi.org/10.3917/reof.133.0041 Power, K. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the care burden of women and families. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 16(1), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1776561 Reichelt, M., Makovi, K., & Sargsyan, A. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on gender inequality in the labor market and gender-role attitudes. European Societies, 23(sup1), S228–S245. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461669 6.2020.1823010

56 

B. BALAGOPAL AND CHACKO JOSE P.

Rivera, C., Hsu, Y.-C., Esbry, F. P., & Dugarova, E. (2020). What does coronavirus mean for women. United Nations Development Programme. https://www. undp.org/blogs/what-­does-­coronavirus-­mean-­women Rose, E.  K. (2018). The rise and fall of female labor force participation during world war II in the United States. The Journal of Economic History, 78(3), 673–711. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050718000323 Sabena, I. (2018). The institutional change and the shift in gender roles during the Great Depression [Bachelors’ thesis]. University of Turin. Shute, N. (1957). On the beach. Heinemann. Sorensen, B. (1999). Women and post-conflict reconstruction: Issues and sources. Social Change, 29(3–4), 333–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 004908579902900423 Sultana, A. (2012). Patriarchy and women’s subordination: A theoretical analysis. Arts Faculty Journal, 4, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12929 UN Women. (2020). COVID-19 and its economic toll on women: The story behind the numbers. UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/feature-­covid-­19-­economic-­impacts-­on-­women UNAIDS. (2012). Impact of the global economic crisis on women, girls and gender equality. UNAIDS. https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_ asset/JC2368_impact-­economic-­crisis-­women_en_0.pdf United Nations. (2011). The global social crisis. United Nations. https://www. un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/docs/2011/rwss2011.pdf United Nations. (2020). Policy brief: The impact of COVID-19 on women. United Nations. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/policy_brief_on_ covid_impact_on_women_9_apr_2020_updated.pdf US Department of Labour. (1946). Employment of women in the early post-war period—With background of pre-war and war data. US Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/ women/b0211_dolwb_1946.pdf Verick, S., & Islam, I. (2010). The great recession of 2008–2009: Causes, consequences and policy responses (Discussion paper No. 4934). The Institute for the Study of Labour. http://ftp.iza.org/dp4934.pdf Women’s Budget Group. (2021). Only 38% of women in the UK believe the Government’s Covid 19 response has focused on issues that matter most to them. Women’s Budget Group. https://wbg.org.uk/media/only-­38-­of-­women-­ in-­the-­uk-­believe-­the-­governments-­covid-­19-­response-­has-­focused-­on-­issues-­ that-­matter-­most-­to-­them/ World Economic Forum. (2021a). Millions have lost their jobs, but businesses can’t find workers. https://fb.watch/5UjoBraIuF/ World Economic Forum. (2021b). Global gender gap report 2021. World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf Yellen, J.  L. (2020). The history of women’s work and wages and how it has created success for us all. The Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings. edu/essay/the-­history-­of-­womens-­work-­and-­wages-­and-­how-­it-­has-­created-­ success-­for-­us-­all/

CHAPTER 3

Labour Force Participation and Economic Challenges for Women in Post-COVID India Manisha Karne and Malini Sharma

Introduction The pandemic situation created by Covid-19 has thrown up a major challenge to the entire world with severe economic implications. Many economies of the world have come to a gloomy standstill. The pandemic has affected men and women associated with various sectors in diverse ways. Women are at the forefront of the conflict against the pandemic, while they also face the majority of risks involved with the job and subsequent income losses. Overburdened by daily household chores and an increase in child-rearing responsibilities due to school and day-care closures, labour force participation rates of women are observed to be considerably lower

M. Karne Development Economics, Mumbai School of Economics and Public Policy, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India e-mail: [email protected] M. Sharma (*) Department of Economics, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 I. George, M. Kuruvilla (eds.), Gendered Experiences of COVID-19 in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85335-8_3

57

58 

M. KARNE AND M. SHARMA

than that of men, and this trend is unmistakably visible across multiple sectors. The labour participation rate has been continuously declining since 1993–94, and India has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates among the developing countries (Lahoti & Swaminathan, 2015). The long-term analysis of women’s labour force participation in India indicates that the primary driver for the declining trend is the rural areas, whereas the urban areas represent a marginal decline only (PLFS [Periodic Labour Force Survey] 2018-19, 2020). Apart from this, at the micro-­ level, gender inequalities persist within the intra-household dynamics as represented in unpaid care work rendered by women at home. Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, including care of persons, housework and voluntary community work. These activities are considered work because theoretically, one could pay a third person to perform them (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2014). It is also found that the test results of gender bias vary sharply between households at different levels of adult literacy. This is particularly true of the household spending on education. The gender bias in investing in education is generally more likely to prevail in households with low levels of adult educational attainment than in more literate families (Lancaster et al., 2008). Due to gender gaps in many spheres of work and life, women are more vulnerable than men to job losses generated by the economic shock caused by the coronavirus crisis. During Covid-19, in many jobs, such as the information technology sector, educational services, financial sector, professional and scientific service and so on, as ‘work from home’ becomes the ‘new normal’, women and their male counterparts continue working from home. As a result, women face a double burden of their job commitments along with additional domestic household work. The term ‘new normal’ was coined in several studies and newspaper articles to express the practice of working from home becoming a common way during the pandemic condition. Lessons from previous crises substantiate that shocks of the same measure of severity as that of the Covid-19 pandemic, time and again impact men and women differently (Rubery & Rafferty, 2013), and it has been observed that during the recovery phase, men’s employment status improved faster than that of women’s (Périvier, 2014). Adding to this, Deshpande (2020), in her study, points out that women workers have lost proportionately more jobs than men.

3  LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES… 

59

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated that full or partial lockdown measures now affect almost 2.7 billion workers, representing around 81% of the world’s workforce. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects a significant contraction of global output in 2020. Covid-19 has pushed the world economy towards a global recession, the scale and nature of which seem unprecedented. For instance, the economic impact on the labour market is so massive that about 400 million workers in the informal sector are on the verge of absolute poverty, according to the ILO report (ILO, 2020). The employees are considered to have informal jobs if their employment relationship is, in law or in practice, not subject to national labour legislation, income taxation, social protection or entitlement to certain employment benefits (PLFS 2018-19, 2020). Additionally, the significant and widening gender differentials in labour force participation rates, employment status and wage rates that had been prevalent during pre-lockdown have deepened further in the lockdown period. As far as paid work is concerned, women are predominant in precarious, unsafe and stigmatised jobs in the form of frontline health workers, waste-pickers and domestic workers. Often they do not even receive the minimum wages as stipulated by the government. Moreover, the nature of the work done by women workers in the informal sector is subject to casual arrangements, and the majority of it being invisible, women are more likely to bear the burden of job losses and wage cuts than men. In addition, during an economic downturn, employers generally cut down part-time jobs, which women primarily take up. According to the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), globally, women undertake approximately ten times more care work than men. Two-thirds of the healthcare workforce across the world consists of women (OECD, 2020). In a sample of 104 countries, women constitute about 85% of the frontline health workers, auxiliary nurses and midwives (Boniol et al., 2019). But despite this, women still form only a minor proportion of senior leadership positions in the field of health (Boniol et al., 2019; Downs et al., 2014). The gender gap in unpaid work is huge in developing countries. Their connection with the labour markets is fragile and thus more prone to distortions. They also have limited access to social security benefits (OECD, 2019a) which come with formal employment. In developing countries, there is widespread inequality in the distribution of income and wealth between men vis-à-vis women (Doss et al., 2014). Hence, they are subjected to greater poverty levels than men (Boudet et  al., 2018). In

60 

M. KARNE AND M. SHARMA

addition, the trend towards informalisation of woman employment in developing countries such as India is unmistakable (OECD, 2019b). As far as self-employed women and women-led SMEs are concerned, many studies suggest that women operate business enterprises with lower levels of capitalisation and thus, rely more on self-financing (OECD/ European Union, 2019). As a result, despite a tendency to follow more risk-averse business strategies, women-operated businesses may be at greater risk of closure during the economic crisis with extended periods of reduced or no revenue. On the whole, according to a report in Business Standard, male labour-­ force participation in India has dropped from 34% in 2006 to 24.8% in 2020. At present, the overall unemployment rate in India is 7%, but it is as high as 18% among women. According to the UNGC (United Nations Global Compact) India study (2020), India is the only country among the 153 surveyed countries where the economic gender gap is greater than the political gap. Chakraborty (2020) used the data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey of 2018–19 for India to shed light on the employment status of women in the informal sector of the country. It was found that the pre-­ existing gender-based unequal division of total household work was exacerbated during the lockdown following the onset of the pandemic. This underpins the fact that economic challenges for women will continue to exist in post-Covid India. It was also found that raising women’s participation in the labour force to the same level as men can boost India’s GDP by 27%. This necessitates decoding policy such that gender perspectives become the focal point of all activities and across all programmes of advocacy and implementation. A recent study by Dewan (2019) adds insights on the acceleration of the process of gender de-equalisation through the labour codes in the context of the sharply declining female labour force participation rates (LFPRs), combined with their concentration in the most low-paid and unorganised segments, increasing gender-based wage differentials, non-­ recognition of large sections of women workers as workers by the state itself, and the prevalence of an increasing burden of unpaid work primarily as a fallout of gender-blind policies. For example, the definition of ‘Work’, ‘Worker’ and ‘Workplace’ under the CoW (Code on Wages) restricts the definition of ‘Employee’ or ‘Worker’ to establishment or industry, consequently precluding private households (Dewan, 2019). The result is the denial of worker status to apprentices, domestic workers and home-based workers, the overwhelming majority of whom are women. Domestic

3  LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES… 

61

workers will no longer be workers, nor will the millions of women involved in working at a piece-rate basis. Similar omissions are observed in the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions. Also, the existing health provisions concerning creches under the Factories Act have been dropped, as Dewan (2019) cited in her study. It is indeed shocking that despite the recent massive increase in violence against women, ‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013’ has been kept out of the ambit of this Code, thus denying a safe environment for women workers even in the organised sector. The study also points out that the Code on Industrial Relations impacts hugely on the rights of collective bargaining, formation and recognition of trade unions, and organisations focusing on labour and rights of women, including women’s cooperatives and collectives. In a nutshell, an analysis of labour codes from a feminist lens portrays women’s rights as participants in the labour force are being diluted. Female Labour Force Participation Rates: India vis-à-vis BRICS Nations The BRICS states account for over 45% of the world labour supply, compared with 19% for the OECD as a whole. However, many studies indicate that the employment content of economic growth in the four countries except Brazil is low. It was also observed that the female labour force participation rates in the BRICS economies have been declining over the years, and this decline has been visibly pronounced in India, especially during the lockdown period following the coronavirus crisis. Moreover, economic growth and rapid job creation have gone hand-in-hand with high wage inequalities in Brazil and the Russian Federation and China, India and South Africa. The most significant are gender wage differentials starkly observable in India (PLFS 2018-19, 2020). The incidence of informal employment has also tended to grow or remain high in the BRICS. The majority of women in these countries are employed in the informal sector (ILO, 2018). This complicates the task of extending the reach of social protection in these countries, which is especially important because of the rapidly ageing population in some of them. Though improving educational attainment will undoubtedly help meet these challenges, policy action to promote transitions to formal employment will also be needed.

62 

M. KARNE AND M. SHARMA

Government data from 2004–05 to 2011–12 was analysed in a March 2017 study by the World Bank. It reported that about 19.6 million women, which are equivalent to the population of Romania, dropped out of the workforce in India. Of this, rural women constituted 53%. In its three years (2017–20) ‘action agenda draft’ released on 23 April 2017, the National Institution for Transforming India Commission (NITI Aayog) has emphasised the importance of promoting equal participation of women in the Indian economy. However, many studies have pointed out that a meagre proportion of Indian women participate in the labour force, the lowest among BRICS countries and G-20 nations, better only than Saudi Arabia (NITI Aayog, 2017). The trend towards lower female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India has intensified during the pandemic and is explained by socio-­ economic factors and their complex interactions at the household and macro levels, which in turn influence the decision and ability of women to participate in the labour force. In the Indian context, the critical determinants of economic participation include educational attainment, household socio-economic status, fertility rate, age of marriage, economic growth and urbanisation. In addition to these issues, social norms determining the role of women in the public domain continue to affect outcomes. Table  3.1 indicates that the female labour force share is merely 22.58%, given the country’s total magnitude. Table 3.1 Comparison of FLFPR during Covid and pre-Covid periods in 162 countries

t-Test: paired two sample for means

Mean Variance Observations Pearson correlation Hypothesised mean difference Df t Stat P(T