Understanding the multifaceted impact ofCOVID‐19 on migrants in Kerala, India

Abstract

Summary Motivation COVID‐19 has disrupted the lives of millions of people worldwide. Migrants in developing economies have been among the most affected. This vulnerable population faces a threat to their livelihood and way of life. Hence, there is an urgent need to understand the impact of pandemic on their lives to be able to tackle subsequent waves of the pandemic or similar exogenous shocks in future. Purpose We delve into the economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic on employment, sources of income, and lives of different categories of migrant labourers in the Indian state of Kerala. Methods and approach Using the livelihood portfolio theory, we dissect this impact in relation to a wide range of issues. This was corroborated by the in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with three categories of respondents. The interview data was analysed by using the directed qualitative content analysis method. We created themes from the data and juxtaposed them with the livelihood portfolio theory in addressing the research objectives. Findings Results highlight the impact on livelihood, lifestyles, migration prospects and gender aspects. First, the households dependent on international migrants were more severely affected than those with family members who were internal migrants. Second, a considerable lifestyle change (more reliance on a plant‐based diet) and borrowing patterns (more reliance on informal money lending) was reported. Third, opinions on future migration prospects were pessimistic, and a trend in favour of reverse migration was noted. We also captured the resilience measures for each of the themes. Policy implications We find that blanket responses to mitigate migrants' hardships could be counterproductive. Policy‐makers ought to implement tailor‐made policies keeping in mind the migrants’ classification and socio‐economic demographics. Further, we recommend specific measures to address challenges that women face, to ease their workload and mitigate the loss of income. Specific measures aimed at initiating attitudinal change such as creating mental health awareness, curbing misinformation and providing counselling services could also add immense value in tackling the pandemic.

Socio-Economic and Health Consequences of COVID-19 on Indian Migrants: A Landscape Analysis

“… They were worried about their own and families’ survival, especially their children’s education. Irudaya R et al 2 Qualitative Study Kerala 72 Internal & International Mental frustration amongst the women. There were difficulties in accessing health facilities and routine check-ups.…”

“…Many migrants became jobless and struggled to reach their homes due to the lockdown and interruption of public transport services. 2 In addition to this, the pandemic’s mental strain had a great impact on the society. The migrants, who were compelled to move out to different parts of the country for job search to sustain their families, were affected adversely by this crisis.…”

Local Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Urban Tourism-Related Services: A Perspective of Kochi Heritage City, Kerala

“…The tourism and related service sectors in Asia, and more specifically in Kerala, have also suffered enormously during the initial hit and the consecutive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has adverse effects from the pandemic in terms of unemployment, socioeconomic depression, bankruptcy, revenue loss, and other budget deficits [24]. Therefore, the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism-related services in Kochi Heritage City, Kerala, is considered a major concern because the crisis has expressed a wide range of local economic downturns and thus has shown a profound effect on the local urban ecosystem [15,25].…”

“…The most adverse effect of COVID-19 is not only limited to destruction for the travel and tourism industry but also to tourism-related services and their supporting sectors [1]. Some researchers have mentioned that, in Kerala, the hardest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been more distressful on the workers of hospitality and tourism-related services such as performing arts and entertainment, restaurants, motels, and hotel businesses, art and craft industries, and other related local markets in comparison to other tertiary jobs like administrative and programming [15,25], thus resulting in increased inequalities and poverty at the highest risk in the region [24]. It is supported by Gössling, who stated that, in developing economies, the negative impact of the crisis is greater on the tourism-related supporting sectors [26].…”

Optimizing Pension Participation in Kenya through Predictive Modeling: A Comparative Analysis of Tree-Based Machine Learning Algorithms and Logistic Regression Classifier

“…This susceptibility is further exacerbated by ongoing global crises, such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, cultural factors and inadequate awareness of the benefits of long-term care insurance products may also contribute to the low uptake of such financial products (Rajan et al 2023;Pörtner et al 2022;Guerrero et al 2021).…”