Covid-19 pandemic hit India's women labourers the hardest, shows data

The income of an estimated 740 million women in the informal economy globally fell 60% in the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a September 2020 report by UN Women.

India's capital and its most urban state (97.5% urban), Delhi, reported the lowest labour force participation rate (LFPR) at 33% and the fourth highest unemployment rate (23.3%) during the first three phases of the Unlock from May to August 2020, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). LFPR refers to the proportion of all working-age people in India who are either employed or looking for jobs. Unemployment rate is the proportion of people in the labour force who do not have a job. By gender, Delhi's female LFPR is 5.5% compared to the male LFPR of 57%, while female unemployment stands at 47% as against male unemployment of 21%, CMIE’s data shows.

India's LFPR was 50.2% according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2018-19. The pandemic further pushed people out of work. Between May and August 2020, the LFPR came down to 40.2%, according to CMIE. Labour participation rates for females was 9.3% compared to 67.4% for males. (Urban female: 7.8; rural female: 10.1). Urban female unemployment rate stood at 21.9% compared to 11.7% for urban males.