How Covid-19 Affected the Work Prospects and Healthcare-Seeking of Women Domestic Workers in Kolkata City, India? A Longitudinal Study

Shibaji Gupta; Debasis Das; Salil K Bhattacharya; Sharmistha S Gupta

doi:10.4103/ijoem.ijoem_346_21

How Covid-19 Affected the Work Prospects and Healthcare-Seeking of Women Domestic Workers in Kolkata City, India? A Longitudinal Study

Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2022 Jul-Sep;26(3):157-164. doi: 10.4103/ijoem.ijoem_346_21. Epub 2022 Sep 26.

Authors

Shibaji Gupta¹, Debasis Das², Salil K Bhattacharya², Sharmistha S Gupta³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Medicine, Midnapore Medical College, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
² Department of Community Medicine, Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
³ Department of General Medicine, Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Abstract

Background: Self-negligence, societal neglect, and lack of access to adequate health care make domestic workers vulnerable to ill-health. COVID-19 has adversely affected the work prospects of people across social classes and their health care-seeking opportunities as well. We studied the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on work prospects and health care-seeking behavior of a vulnerable section of the society - the women domestic workers.

Methods: A longitudinal analysis on 292 randomly selected women domestic workers residing in slums of "Kalikapur" locality of Kolkata city, West Bengal (India). Data were collected using a predesigned and pretested schedule twice: in early-2020 (before severe impact of COVID-19) and mid-2020 (during the pandemic ravaging India). Paired t-test and McNemar's test were used to check for significant changes.

Result: Of all the participants, 57.2% lost jobs partially while 2.7% were completely jobless in mid-2020; the average daily work-hour decreased by 25.7%. Their average monthly pay significantly reduced (P < 0.05); mean family income in mid-2020 was lesser as well, compared to earlier (P < 0.05). Compared to early-2020, 15.8% more participants were sole bread-winners for their families during COVID-19. Number of participants visiting health practitioners significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in mid-2020. Rise in over-the-counter medicine use (P < 0.05) and increased tendency to ignore symptoms (P < 0.05) during COVID-19 was noted.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected work prospects and health care-seeking behavior of women domestic workers negatively. Most of them faced wage reduction, many becoming sole-earners for their families. This necessitates continued formulation and implementation of strategies ensuring social benefits including healthcare. Awareness about affordable healthcare and ill-effects of bad practices like self-medication should also be built.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019; domestic work; health care-seeking behavior; job opportunity; occupational health; unorganised sector.