Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in 2020, has affected various aspects of people’s lives worldwide, including in Indonesia. Among the many affected victims, women heads of families (WHF) can be said to have been double affected. This is because, as sole heads of the family, women are not only the backbone of the family but also struggle with the difficulties brought about by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article analyzes the lives of WHF in relation to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of West Nusa Tenggara (West Lombok, Mataram, and Central Lombok), Indonesia. Qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with forty-five WHF, were used to collect data on the assets, coping strategies, and sustainable outcomes of these women. Using a sustainable livelihoods approach, this research found that there was diversity in the assets, coping strategies, and sustainable outcomes generated by WHF during the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. This diversity, for example, was seen in the assets, which also included educational, economic, and networking backgrounds, and was highly significant in influencing the outcomes for these WHF.