Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272449 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15822
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
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.
Subjects: 
COVID-19
wage employment
mental health
social networks
gender
India
JEL: 
J16
J22
J23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
881.32 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.