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Where is my home?: Gendered precarity and the experience of COVID‐19 among women migrant workers from Delhi and National Capital Region, India

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  • Shubhda Arora
  • Mrinmoy Majumder

Abstract

With growing interest in the lives of individuals and communities during the COVID‐19 pandemic, there is consensus among scholars, academicians, and policy makers that the pandemic has had unequal impacts on different sections of the society. The dominant idea that “we are in this together” needs to be critically unpacked to understand the differential impact of the same pandemic on people with varied vulnerabilities. The concept of “intersectional vulnerability” has been key to understanding the unequal distribution of the pandemic risk. Using a gendered intersectional lens, this paper aims to understand the lived experiences of migrant women workers during the pandemic and their narratives of gendered inequality. Through a narrative study in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), India, from May to October 2020, this study brings out stories of precarity faced by five migrant women while battling the social, psychological, and economic effects of the pandemic. Loss of livelihood, home, savings, and prospects of a better future shape the narratives of these women. The pandemic exacerbated the already precarious positions of these women by creating a situation where—(a) patriarchal structures were further reinforced, and (b) losing gender solidarity and companionship through lockdown and social distancing.

Suggested Citation

  • Shubhda Arora & Mrinmoy Majumder, 2021. "Where is my home?: Gendered precarity and the experience of COVID‐19 among women migrant workers from Delhi and National Capital Region, India," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(S2), pages 307-320, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:28:y:2021:i:s2:p:307-320
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12700
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    1. Krushna Chandra Sahoo & Shubhankar Dubey & Girish Chandra Dash & Rakesh Kumar Sahoo & Mili Roopchand Sahay & Sapna Negi & Pranab Mahapatra & Debdutta Bhattacharya & Banamber Sahoo & Subhada Prasad Pan, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for Urban Poor in Low- and Middle-Income Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic through a Gendered Lens," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Nadia Singh & Areet Kaur, 2022. "The COVID‐19 pandemic: Narratives of informal women workers in Indian Punjab," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 388-407, March.
    3. Valerie Mueller & Camila Páez-Bernal & Clark Gray & Karen Grépin, 2023. "The Gendered Consequences of COVID-19 for Internal Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-37, August.

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