Seventeenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Unpaid domestic labour performed by women within the household premises, along with the institution of family as a whole, is crucial for the functioning of capitalism. The interplay of patriarchy and capitalism has contributed to the perpetuation of women’s subordinate position in the family and the labour force. Consequently, the pandemic had a more intense impact on women. In this study, we propose possible scenarios regarding post-pandemic labour market decisions of women engaged as formal as well as informal workers in the pre-pandemic situation. Further, we explore the changes in their intra-household dynamics, which include the prevalence of domestic violence, as consequences of these decisions. Marxist feminist theory along with relevant data and newspaper articles have been used to look into how each of these scenarios will influence the process of surplus value extraction.