In countries across the world, studies have documented the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women. The unemployment rate has been soaring and the quality of employment has worsened, for men and women both. But the position of women remains far more vulnerable in the labour market. According to the World Economic Forum’s “The Global Gender Gap Report 2021,” on account of the pandemic, the disparity in labour-force participation among men and women is likely to be between one and four percent wider than reported.
India usually performs poorly in female labour-force participation rates compared to most developed and developing countries. So, the broad trend of women’s deteriorating situation in the workforce, globally, was expected to be similar for India, if not worse. But the latest government report, the Quarterly Employment Survey, claims otherwise. The report says that more jobs were generated from July to September 2021 compared to previous quarters, and women’s share in employment also increased. This was during year two of the
