Gender and economic policy discussion forum XXXII

Venue: Zoom platform

We are happy to announce next in the series of the XXXII Gender and Economic Policy Discussion Forum. The online discussion is titled ‘Gendered impact of the Covid-19 pandemic & the associated lockdown: The readjustment of women's labour’.

By March 2020, amidst growing evidence on contraction of industrial production, demand, real GDP and employment over several successive quarters, economists had already forewarned a recession. It was in such a situation that India imposed one of the world’s most stringent lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease. Whether the lockdown helped achieving this aim is still hotly debated as the infection rates continue to soar in India, however, most experts have no two views regarding the devastating impact of the lockdown on the workforce. Based on data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) Consumer Pyramid Household Survey, it has been estimated that over 120 million people in India lost their jobs in the immediate aftermath of the lockdown. Most of these workers, being migrants employed in the informal economy in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai were displaced from their place of residence owing to conditions of food insecurity, malnutrition, hunger, lack of disposable income and fear of the disease. Many of these effects were notably gendered and affected certain demographics most severely.
 

Information:

Shalini Yog Shah
Deputy Director & Programme Coordinator, Democracy & Society (Gender) and India International (Global)
E: shalini.yog@in.boell.org