Azim Premji University, (APU)
(2021)
STATE OF WORKING INDIA 2021: One year of Covid-19: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
[Report]
Abstract
This report documents the impact of one year of Covid-19 in India, on jobs, incomes,inequality, and poverty. It also examines the effectiveness of policy measures thathave thus far been undertaken to offer relief and support. Finally, it offers some policysuggestions for the near and medium-term future.
When the pandemic hit, the Indian economy was already in the most prolongedslowdown in recent decades. On top of this, there were legacy problems such as a slowrate of job creation and lack of political commitment to improving working conditionswhich trapped a large section of the workforce without access to any employmentsecurity or social protection.
Our analysis shows that the pandemic has further increased informality and led to asevere decline in earnings for the majority of workers resulting in a sudden increasein poverty. Women and younger workers have been disproportionately affected.Households have coped by reducing food intake, borrowing, and selling assets.Government relief has helped avoid the most severe forms of distress, but the reach ofsupport measures is incomplete, leaving out some of the most vulnerable workers andhouseholds. We find that additional government support is urgently needed now fortwo reasons - compensating for the losses sustained during the first year and anticipatingthe impact of the second wave.
Our main data sources are the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey from the Centrefor Monitoring the Indian Economy, the Azim Premji University Covid-19 LivelihoodsPhone Survey (CLIPS) and the India Working Survey (IWS) (see Appendix of the reportfor details). We also draw on a large number of other Covid impact surveys conducted byCivil Society Organisations and researchers. In this Executive Summary, unless otherwiseindicated, all estimates are from CMIE-CPHS. Most data pertain to the period betweenMarch 2020 and December 2020. We compare these months to pre-Covid periods asappropriate.
At the time of writing, the country is in the throes of a second wave of infections andrenewed restrictions on mobility. Hence findings presented here must be regarded asprovisional. Neither the short-term impact nor the longer-term effects are fully clear. Butthis analysis can form the basis for policy action as we find ourselves in the midst of themost severe humanitarian crisis in recent memory.
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