Unemployment persisted even six months after lockdown: Report

NEW DELHI: Unemployment persisted for six months after the lockdown which led to a decline in income level, showed Hunger Watch Report by Right to Food Campaign and Centre for Equity Studies.Over 27 per cent of the households surveyed showed there was no source of income even six months after the lockdown was imposed, according to the survey. This was a marginal improvement from the fact that about 43 per cent of the respondents had no income in April-May as per the survey. Out of those who had no income in April-May, only about 3 per cent had gone back to income levels of what it was before lockdown, while 56 per cent of them continued to have no income in October. 

In the report, the data related to 3,994 households across 11 states. According to the report, marginalised and excluded communities are over-represented. Seventy-nine per cent of the respondents had income less than Rs 7,000 per month before the lockdown. The data indicated a significant fall in consumption of food grains, pulses, vegetables, and eggs/meat. The report observed a steep rise in unemployment, and, as a corollary, a sharp fall in incomes. The respondents were also asked about the change in the overall nutritional quality and the overall quantity of food consumption in October compared to the baseline reference period.

According to the report, the impact of the lockdown on some vulnerable groups such as households headed by single women, households with people having disabilities, and transgender people was harsher. Overall, about 71 per cent reported that the intake of nutritious food became worse. Among 79 per cent transgenders, and other sexual minorities, income reduced by half or a quarter. The survey also showed that urban respondents reported at least 15 percentage point worse condition than the rural counterparts.