The world has witnessed a huge economic shock due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And in response, to minimize the spread, the majority of countries have adopted some version of a lockdown of all social activity. Likewise, the nationwide lockdown in India started on March 24, 2020. However, the unlock process has begun in the country with several restrictions being eased. It is now late June, 2020, three months since lockdown and I can’t be more thankful for my privileges of having a safe home, access to clean water, and groceries delivered at the door. However, there are many of us who have been severely affected by the lockdown.

COVID-19 has changed a lot of things for most of us. I would like to share some anecdotes from my interactions with people from different backgrounds on how COVID-19 changed their livelihood. Many news reports and posts have highlighted the plight of the daily wage earners, particularly migrant workers walking miles to be back home. However, little has been discussed on the challenges faced by Low-Income and Middle-Income groups living in the urban areas.

I want to talk first about experiences of house helpers (informal sector workers). I have been in touch with my house helper (aged ~25 years) since the lockdown began. Towards the end of April, I called her up to know about her whereabouts and if everything was fine with her. To which she responded that she and her family are fine and are getting government aids. She mentioned that she had a bank account and other necessary documents such as ration card, which helped her avail the benefits, but other families living in her neighborhood (who do not have the required documents to avail benefits) are facing a lot of challenges and some of them have returned to their home (villages). Quite a few of the other house helpers have not been paid since March and are dependent only on the government aid that they receive, which is hardly sufficient. This emerging picture is disturbing and underlines the need for increasing the public spending and transfers to address such issues.

In another instance, the other day, I had a quick chat with the kirana (grocery) store guy (aged ~20 years) in our neighborhood on how he/his shop was affected by COVID-19. To this question, he looked a bit happy and, with pride, he mentioned that since the lockdown began even the rich people from the area have started visiting our shop. He further mentioned that these people would never look at our shops, but now they talk to us when they come to buy things. It was interesting to see that twinkle in his eyes. The pandemic is surely teaching us to buy local.

I would like to end my blog with another positive story about my neighbor’s child (aged ~7 years). Both her parents have 9 to 5 corporate jobs and thus (before lockdown began) they would start from their residence around 8 am and would be back by 6.30~7 pm. Therefore, she used to see them less often at home before the lockdown. But since the lockdown began, both her parents are working from home, and therefore she gets to spend more time with them. I have never seen her happier. We wave at each other from our windows and exchange pleasantries. Her mom told me that every time she and her husband get an email regarding re-opening of their respective offices, their daughter prays for their offices to remain closed.

While pandemics such as COVID-19 clearly impact people’s livelihoods in urban areas, it is important to understand and capture the variation. The Youth Futures project proposes engaging with young and adult stakeholders to better understand the challenges, collaborate with them in transforming local policies and practices, and provide lessons nationally and cross-nationally to support youth livelihood options that create inclusive cities. The current circumstances further underline the timeliness and importance of this project.

Author: Khushboo Gupta, National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi