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Gendered Household Responsibilities in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from India

Author

Listed:
  • Rimon Saha
  • Ladenla Lama
  • Namrata Thapa

Abstract

The article studies the division of household work before and during the complete lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It also examines the influence of individual and household characteristics on the division of work, exploring, in particular, the relationship between family composition and the pattern of sharing household responsibilities during the lockdown. Data was collected from 156 married employed women through an online survey. The analysis shows that, irrespective of the lockdown, the burden on women is higher. The lockdown merely intensified this burden as the services of the domestic help were restricted. The division of household responsibilities is relatively unfair for women in joint families or families with dependents, compared to nuclear families and families without dependents. Traditional gender roles seem to overpower all other factors, including the education and earning capacity of women, to ensure an unfair division of household work, negating the relative resources theory. This could have wide-reaching implications for gender equality and the well-being and productivity of women.

Suggested Citation

  • Rimon Saha & Ladenla Lama & Namrata Thapa, 2026. "Gendered Household Responsibilities in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from India," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 33(1), pages 7-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:33:y:2026:i:1:p:7-25
    DOI: 10.1177/09715215251404260
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Begoña Álvarez & Daniel Miles, 2003. "Gender effect on housework allocation: Evidence from Spanish two-earner couples," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(2), pages 227-242, May.
    2. Ashwini Deshpande, 2023. "The Covid-19 Pandemic and Gendered Division of Paid Work, Domestic Chores and Leisure: Evidence from India’s First Wave," India Studies in Business and Economics, in: Indrani Gupta & Mausumi Das (ed.), Contextualizing the COVID Pandemic in India, chapter 0, pages 143-168, Springer.
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