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Income and Employment Changes Under COVID-19 Lockdown: A Study of Urban Punjab

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  • Indervir Singh
  • Jagdeep Singh
  • Ashapurna Baruah

Abstract

This article traces income and employment changes through various phases of the lockdown based on primary data. It analyses the coping strategies of people in response to fall in their income. The article reveals that there was a large drop in income and employment with the announcement of lockdown. While there is some recovery with easing of the lockdown, the income at the time of survey is still substantially lower than its pre-lockdown level. Casual labour households with the largest fall in income and employment are the most affected. Income and employment losses are also higher among Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Caste (OBC) households. In the absence of any income, the households either had to live off their savings or had to borrow money for their basic needs. With rapidly depleting savings, borrowing approached its limits, and with slow recovery of income, households may need substantial government assistance to save them from deprivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Indervir Singh & Jagdeep Singh & Ashapurna Baruah, 2020. "Income and Employment Changes Under COVID-19 Lockdown: A Study of Urban Punjab," Millennial Asia, , vol. 11(3), pages 391-412, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:millen:v:11:y:2020:i:3:p:391-412
    DOI: 10.1177/0976399620957630
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    2. Lili Li & Araz Taeihagh & Si Ying Tan, 2023. "A scoping review of the impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on vulnerable population groups," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Shaifali Chauhan & Richa Banerjee & Vishal Dagar, 2023. "Analysis of Impulse Buying Behaviour of Consumer During COVID-19: An Empirical Study," Millennial Asia, , vol. 14(2), pages 278-299, June.
    4. Roza Hazli Zakaria & Mohamad Fazli Sabri & Nurulhuda Mohd Satar & Amirah Shazana Magli, 2023. "The Immediate Impacts of COVID-19 on Low-Income Households: Evidence from Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Romel Ramón González-Díaz & Santos Lucio Guanilo-Gómez & Ángel Eduardo Acevedo-Duque & Jorge Suárez Campos & Elena Cachicatari Vargas, 2021. "Intrinsic alignment with strategy as a source of business sustainability in SMEs," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(4), pages 377-388, June.

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