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IWWAGE-Institute for What Works to Advance Gender Equality

Women and Work: How India fared in 2020

Women and girls across the world have been disproportionately affected in the year of the pandemic, not in terms of impact of the virus, but more so socially and economically.  While India was rapidly responding to the health crisis, millions of Indians were grappling with the unintended impacts of lockdown measures on the economy and their livelihoods. Even before the onset of COVID-19, India’s female workforce was largely invisible, underpaid, under-protected and constituted largest segment of the informal workforce, which is among the worst-hit this year. But several opportunities exist in 2021 to ensure that India’s women are not left behind in its recovery plans.

Against this backdrop, IWWAGE and The Quantum Hub (TQH) authored a report that draws from various studies, data sources and nationally-representative data sets to look at the key trends and policy developments that came to shape and define the lives of women across India in 2020. This report captures key data on economic and social indicators (like female labour force participation, barriers to work and livelihoods, financial inclusion, digital access, skilling, education and violence against women) that played a central role in determining women’s role in the Indian economy this year.

Opportunities for Transformative Financing for Women and Girls

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, women and girls in India have faced disproportionate economic and social impacts-ranging from job losses and depleted savings to increased unpaid care work and heightened vulnerability to violence. Recognising the urgent need for a gender-responsive recovery, IWWAGE and The Quantum Hub (TQH) hosted a pre-budget consultation on 1 October 2020 to inform the Union Budget 2021-22.

The consultation brought together experts to identify key policy priorities for advancing women’s economic empowerment. Drawing on these discussions, the resulting policy paper outlines actionable recommendations across four key areas:
– Expansionary fiscal policies to finance priorities for women and vulnerable groups
– Strengthening gender-disaggregated data and evidence
– Enhancing institutional mechanisms for gender budgeting
– Sector-specific investments in women-focused programmes

The paper also highlights relevant ministries responsible for implementing these recommendations, with the goal of ensuring a more inclusive and resilient recovery for all.

Impact of Covid-19 On Working Women

The Indian economy has been plunged into severe economic uncertainties created by the global pandemic COVID-19. At the same time, there are also discussions on how the eruption, the spread and the aftermath of the novel virus will affect women. The numbers of women at work, their sustenance at the workplace, their pay, their career graph was already a matter of grave concern and a much-discussed global issue. Now, in light of the COVID-19 scenario, the following questions become imperative to address: Are we foreseeing worse days ahead? What has been the impact of COVID-19 on working women, both in urban and rural areas? Which are the sectors where women have become dispensable? How do we ensure that women are not further marginalised in these unprecedented times? To answer these questions, one must start by analysing the data and underlying trends of women’s employment in India, including in sectors where they tend to be employed. We also need to scrutinise the long run repercussions the economic fallout of the pandemic will have on gender equality, both during different phases of the lockdown and thereafter. This note attempts to deliberate upon the aforesaid issues and reflects on some measures that can help bring about recovery and resilience for women.