Merging the public and private spheres of women's work: Narratives from women street food vendors during Covid‐19 crisis

Abstract

Feminist economists have long questioned the dichotomy between the “private” versus “public” spheres of women's work and have argued for a more nuanced understanding of the marketable paid work and the unpaid work of household caregiving. This paper focuses on women street food vendors' (SFVs) experiences before and during Covid‐19 pandemic to understand how street food vending as a livelihood activity interacts with social dimensions like gender and division of labor. Through multiple in‐depth interviews with 23 women street vendors in Bengaluru, India, before and during the pandemic, we show that there is a blurring of the dichotomy between the work done in the private and public spaces before the pandemic, which is disrupted by Covid‐19 crisis. The first half of the paper explores the household labor dynamics in the context of paid and unpaid work of women and explains how the women SFVs, capitalizing on their existing skills of “ cooking ,” were able to gain agency and recognition for themselves within the households. The second half of the paper focuses on the narratives of the same women SFVs during the first wave of the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. We find that the Covid crisis brought back the dichotomy between private and public spheres, making it more pronounced, with women losing their control over the public sphere and their work being restricted only to the private sphere.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the livelihood of a vulnerable population: Evidence from women street vendors in urban Vietnam

“…Table 1 shows that most respondents were married (89.0 %), with a large proportion (59.3 %) comprising middle-aged adults, while around 24.2 % and 16.5 % were older and younger adults, respectively. These results are similar to findings from previous studies in which most vendors were married and middle-aged adults ( Guha et al, 2021 ; Muyanja et al, 2011 ; Williams & Gurtoo, 2012 ). In line with previous studies ( Guha et al, 2021 ; Martínez et al, 2017 ), many respondents were immigrants from other provinces and cities (75.8 %).…”

“…During social distancing, some cities have allowed street vendors—especially those selling fresh fruits and vegetables—to operate; however, most developing cities did not allow street vendors to work ( Chen, 2020 ; Guha et al, 2021 ; Lemessa et al, 2021 ; Sisay et al, 2021 ; Toriro & Chirisa, 2021 ). In urban Vietnam, the vendors were also required to suspend their businesses during social distancing ( Thanh et al, 2021 ; Turner et al, 2021 ).…”

“…First, these vendors experienced a reduction in purchasing power since their customers suffered from income shock, limited going out, and/or fear of infection from direct human contact ( Kiaka et al, 2021 ; Nasution et al, 2021 ; Thanh et al, 2021 ). Second, vendors might have been restricted or prohibited from doing business ( Chen, 2020 ; Guha et al, 2021 ; Gupte & Mitlin, 2021 ; Sisay et al, 2021 ; Toriro & Chirisa, 2021 ; Wegerif, 2020 ). For example, public places where vendors sold their goods were shut down, resulting in few or no customers ( Nasution et al, 2021 ; Turner et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Therefore, they might find it difficult to call on each other for assistance. Accordingly, some vendors borrowed from moneylenders at high interest rates, while some sold their durable assets in response to income shocks ( Guha et al, 2021 ; Martínez et al, 2021 ; Turner et al, 2021 ). Consequently, with low repayment capacity and loss of productive assets, they may get into trouble or fall into (deeper) poverty over the long term ( Agarwal, 2021 ; Guha et al, 2021 ; Turner et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Previous studies have examined how COVID-19 social distancing hit the livelihoods of street vendors and how they sustained their businesses and ensured their essential consumption (e.g., housing and food) ( Coletto et al, 2021 ; Guha et al, 2021 ; SEWA-Bharat, 2020 ; Thai et al, 2021 ; Toriro & Chirisa, 2021 ; Turner et al, 2021 ). However, no studies to date have provided a comprehensive picture of women street vendors during this challenging period.…”