Suddenly Home: Returned Women Migrant Workers due to COVID-19 Pandemic Seeking Emergency Income and Equal Gender Roles in the Household

Octastefani, Theresia and Kusuma, Bayu Mitra A. (2023) Suddenly Home: Returned Women Migrant Workers due to COVID-19 Pandemic Seeking Emergency Income and Equal Gender Roles in the Household. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, 27 (1). 19 – 31. ISSN 14104946

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic stopped practically all activities in almost all sectors of the economy, resulting in an unprecedented global economic crisis. One of the impacts was that millions of women migrant workers lost their jobs in their host countries. This article explores the struggle of Indonesian women migrant workers as they returned to their hometowns in Banyuwangi Regency due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and were forced to find an alternative source of income for their families. This qualitative study uses literature studies and in-depth interviews to collect data and information. The results show that women took a heavier share of the workload in supporting their household during the pandemic. As a breadwinner, they had to quickly adapt to the situation and earn an income as soon as they returned home. They struggled to look for alternative sources of income in rural areas, which were limited to farming, online ride-hailing services (individual efforts), and SME activities (collective efforts), such as producing garments, food and fruit products, livestock, and crafts. For these women, the fear of being exposed to COVID-19 was pale in comparison to the fear of not being able to provide for the family. At the same time, once home, the workload from housework is theirs, doubling their burden. © 2023 Universitas Gadjah Mada - Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. All rights reserved.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Cited by: 0; All Open Access, Gold Open Access
Uncontrolled Keywords: returned women migrant workers; emergency income; equal gender roles; Banyuwangi-Indonesia
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Divisions: Faculty of Political and Social Sciences > Politics and Government
Depositing User: Yuli Hesti Wahyuningsih
Date Deposited: 17 Sep 2024 04:14
Last Modified: 17 Sep 2024 04:14
URI: https://ir.lib.ugm.ac.id/id/eprint/7081

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