Wages and working conditions are shaped by pre-existing inequalities in the labour market in the form of age, caste, gender and contractual status. During the prepandemic period, brands took advantage of these disparities to systematically underpay vulnerable segments of the workforce and to flexibilise employment relations.
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Monthyl Wages in USD
2. Pre-Existing Inequalities As A Fertile Ground For Covid-19 Wage Theft
Figure 6.5: Trend in monthly wages by gender, 2020 Figure 6.3 : Trend in monthly wages by gender, 2020
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However, once garment production resumed from June, with migrant men also slowly returning back to work, the monthly gender wage gap started going back to prepandemic levels with men earning more than women workers.
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Source : Primary data, n = 433
Gender Pay Gap Although wages of both men and women fell during the Covid-19 lockdown period, the monthly gender pay gap reversed when compared to the pre-pandemic period, with women earning more than men between March and May 2020 (Figure 6.5). This is because, during these months, more women workers were engaged in the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Men were mainly laid off or in places like Ahmedabad and Gurgaon, where suppliers employ a large number of single male migrants, many had returned to their villages during the migrant-exodus in March 2020, forcing suppliers to employ more women in PPE production. Most women engaged in PPE production stated that they were forced to work extremely long hours at very low wages during this period.
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“After the lockdown, the factory stated the creche facility will not be reopening due to health and safety concerns. With a two-year-old child, how could I return to work without a creche in the factory? We had no savings and were in massive debt after the lockdown, so for a few days, I left my child at a neighbour’s house and returned to work. But it could not be sustained, and the manager said its better I resign, as they were anyway trying to cut down their workforce. So, I resigned and started selling vegetables at the market, where I could at least take my baby to work. I hardly earn 5000 INR (69 USD) a month now. I wish I could return to the factory so I could earn more and give my baby more nutritious food.” - Saritha, 25-year-old garment worker at PVH supplier factory in Bengaluru
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