Background paper n.13

Rural women’s transitions in and out of employment in India since COVID-19

This brief discusses the transitions of rural women in and out of employment since the start of the global pandemic in response to changes in the household due to the COVID-19 crisis. We postulate that these household changes, i.e. loss of employment by other household members, increase in household size, and increase in unpaid care work, affected women’s exit and entry into employment. The key findings highlight the complex coping strategies at the household level where women’s work – paid and unpaid – plays a critical role. This brief summarizes the paper Bárcia de Mattos, Fernanda; Dasgupta, Sukti; Esquivel, Valeria; and Ghani, Sajid (2023), "Push and Pull Factors and Women's Rural Employment in India since Covid-19," Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 12, no. 2.