In this book chapter, the researchers explored how a pandemic-induced lockdown affected female domestic workers, to what extent the government’s response and aid support affected their intra-household consumption patterns, and, given the unsecured nature of work, what some of the psycho-social costs faced by these women domestic workers are.
Authors
Deepanshu Mohan, Associate Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Kensiya Kennedy; Centre for New Economics Studies, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Mansi Singh, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India
Shivani Agarwal, Centre for New Economics Studies, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
An indifferent government’s response to the current pandemic and its economic impact is now presenting a set of scenarios that is likely to exacerbate deep-rooted inequities, otherwise entrenched in different socio-political, economic forms.
One particular group worst affected by the economic crisis, particularly within the unorganised or unsecured worker space, has been that of the domestic workers. The plight of the domestic working class, toiling hard in India’s rich urban metropolises, often at the risk of higher exploitation and indignation by the elite class, is widely known and written about.
The authors’ research team, conducting a mini-ethnographic survey over seven to eight weeks, explored how a pandemic-induced lockdown affected female domestic workers, to what extent the government’s response and aid support (in the form of food rations) affected their intra-household consumption patterns, and, given the unsecured nature of work, what some of the psycho-social costs faced by these women domestic workers are (in terms of domestic abuse and violence).
Published in: Media, Migrants and the Pandemic in India: A Reader, Pages 104 – 109
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