India Pandemic Worsens One of the World’s Worst Gender Gaps

Unemployment, inaccessibility of vaccines, and increased mortality rates show that women have faced considerably more difficult circumstances than men in India throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfit remote working conditions and mental health challenges continue to burden women in the country.

Bhaskar Chakravorti, Fletcher’s Dean of Global Business, explains why women in India have suffered disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic, via an article in Bloomberg.

“The reason for vaccine hesitancy especially among women could be due to many reasons,” said Chakravorti. “Women tend to be at the back of the line in the household for access to many services — from healthcare to education to access to a mobile phone. As the traditional caregivers of the family they defer to the needs of others, or that decision is made for them by the men.”