Indian women out of jobs: Covid-19 lockdown impact

Earlier 27% of women were in jobs in India. Covid-19 lockdown slashed that to 20%. “This is because sectors in which women are employed-services, food, travel and hospitality have been adversely affected,” says Saumya Kapoor Mehta, head of IWWAGE, New Delhi.

She points out that the other aspect of the problem is work-from-home which adds the burden of domestic chores like looking after children and the elderly. Therefore, the number of women engaged in unpaid care work, which was 94% last year, has soared. Whereas only 20% of Indian men are involved in unpaid care work.

Watch this interview to know more about how India women are falling off the workforce, the challenges they face - at home and even those who do manage to find work, how COVID-19 has hit them and what can be done to bring the change.