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Understanding labour market disruptions and job losses amidst COVID-19

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  • Rajendra P. Mamgain

    (National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown on labour market in India. By using the data of centre for monitoring Indian economy (CMIE)’s consumer pyramids household survey (CPHS), the paper analyses the magnitude and nature of job losses and consequent unprecedented rise in unemployment across gender, social group, occupations during April–June 2020. It finds widespread job losses in labour market with some sections of the society, including small traders, self-employed, migrant workers, daily wage labourers, youth and women being worst affected, who mostly work in the informal sector of the Indian economy. Agriculture sector acted as a sponge by absorbing surplus labour during the times of COVID-19, which was being gradually vacated earlier over the years due to several well-known reasons. The rate of recovery in labour market has been comparatively much slower in case of salaried jobs, youth employment, particularly in rural areas and with elementary education. The economic consequences such disruptions on employment front were even much more serious as a very low percentage of households reporting improvement in their incomes. The most worrying aspect is that though the return to normalcy may take some time, there has been general recessionary trends in employment in India, which have been visible much before the COVID-19 crisis. The policy measures need to be extraordinary in such difficult times, focusing on securing employment and welfare of affected workers through sound and effective social protection programmes along with a major drive for promoting labour-intensive economic activities such as micro- and small enterprises, extension of employment security to poor urban households and skilling/reskilling of labour force to work in post-COVID-changed situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajendra P. Mamgain, 2021. "Understanding labour market disruptions and job losses amidst COVID-19," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 23(2), pages 301-319, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:23:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s40847-020-00125-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-020-00125-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank, 2020. "The COVID-19 Pandemic [Pandémie De Covid-19]," World Bank Publications - Reports 33696, The World Bank Group.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Khyati Kathuria & Nand Kumar, 2022. "Pandemic‐induced fear and government policy response as a measure of uncertainty in the foreign exchange market: Evidence from (a)symmetric wild bootstrap likelihood ratio test," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 361-379, October.
    3. Suzan Abdel-Rahman & Mohamed R. Abonazel & Fuad A. Awwad & B. M. Golam Kibria, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19-Induced Responsibilities on Women’s Employment in Arab Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Beata Bieszk-Stolorz & Krzysztof Dmytrów, 2022. "Assessment of the Similarity of the Situation in the EU Labour Markets and Their Changes in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Yasser Razak Hussain & Pranab Mukhopadhyay, 2023. "How Much do Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India? A Panel Data Analysis Disaggregated by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    6. Antoine Mandel & Vipin P. Veetil, 2025. "Transient dynamics of the COVID lockdown on India’s production network," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 20(1), pages 73-105, January.
    7. Eunice S. Han & Sarah F. Small, 2024. "Labor Market Experiences of US Veterans During COVID-19: Women’s Relative Advantage," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 50(3), pages 278-306, June.
    8. Chakravorty, Bhaskar & Bhatiya, Apurav Yash & Imbert, Clément & Lohnert, Maximilian & Panda, Poonam & Rathelot, Roland, 2023. "Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on India’s rural youth: Evidence from a panel survey and an experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    9. Juan A. & Francisco Lagos & Ana I. Moro-Egido, 2022. "Job Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain," ThE Papers 22/10, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    10. Mattos, Fernanda Bárcia de & Dasgupta, Sukti & Esquivel, Valeria & Ghani, Sajid, 2022. "Push and Pull Factors and Women's Rural Employment in India since Covid-19," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 12(2), December.

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