The Gendered Crisis: Livelihoods and Mental Well-Being in India During Covid-19

67 Pages Posted: 18 May 2023

See all articles by Farzana Afridi

Farzana Afridi

Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi - Indian Statistical Institute

Amrita Dhillon

King’s College London

Sanchari Roy

King’s College London

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gendered dimensions of employment and mental health among urban informal-sector workers in India. First, we find that men's employment declined by 84 percentage points during pandemic relative to pre-pandemic employment, while their monthly earnings fell by 89 per cent relative to the baseline mean. In contrast, women did not experience any significant impact on employment during pandemic, as reported by their husbands. Second, we document very high levels of pandemic-induced mental stress, with wives reporting greater stress than husbands. Third, this gendered pattern in pandemic-induced mental stress is partly explained by men's employment losses, which affected wives more than husbands. In contrast, women staying employed during the pandemic is associated with worse mental health for them and their (unemployed) husbands. Fourth, pre-existing social networks are associated with higher mental stress for women relative to men, possibly due to the 'home-based' nature of women's networks.

Keywords: COVID-19, wage employment, mental health, social networks, gender, India

JEL Classification: J16, J22, J23

Suggested Citation

Afridi, Farzana and Dhillon, Amrita and Roy, Sanchari, The Gendered Crisis: Livelihoods and Mental Well-Being in India During Covid-19. IZA Discussion Paper No. 15822, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4442396 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4442396

Farzana Afridi (Contact Author)

Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi - Indian Statistical Institute

New Delhi
New Delhi, 110016
India

Amrita Dhillon

King’s College London ( email )

Sanchari Roy

King’s College London ( email )

Strand
London, England WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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