It is getting from bad to worse for women workers(The hindu, GS-3, Economy, Women’s issue)

17 May It is getting from bad to worse for women workers(The hindu, GS-3, Economy, Women’s issue)

Context:- COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed millions of livelihoods and led to a sudden and large increase in poverty. Womens are much more affected then anyone else. they are on the back seat of the family and on the front seat of the pandemic thereby the worse affected.

A large employment gap between men and women

• Only 18% of working-age women were employed as compared to 75% of men.
• Why
  • lack of good jobs
  • restrictive social norms
  • the burden of household work.

 Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. 

• 61% of male workers were unaffected during the lockdown while only 19% of women experienced this kind of security. 
• 47% of employed women who had lost jobs during the lockdown
• Men who did lose work were able to regain it, even if it was at the cost of increased precarity or lower earnings
• Nearly half of the women workers withdrew from the employment.
• women workers had poorer options compared to men
• They are the worse affected irrespective of the sector for e.x.  share of women in job losses in education was three times their share in that industry.
• Growing domestic work
  •  burden of care may be a reason for poor employment recovery incase of women even if they are employed, massive increase in the burden of household work.

The following measures are needed now for women reemployment.

• MGNREGA for rural
• urban employment guarantee targeted to women
• co-ordinated efforts by States to facilitate employment of women

setting up of community kitchen

• prioritising the opening of schools and anganwadi centres
• engagement with self-help groups for the production of personal protective equipment kits
• COVID-19 hardship allowance of at least ₹5,000 per month for six months for 2.5 million ASHA and anganwari workers.
• systematically address the constraints around the participation of the women’s workforce.
• adequate public investment in social infrastructure.
• expands public investments in health, education, child and elderly care.
• universal basic services programme.

Swarn Singh

Plutus IAS Current Affair Team Member