Vulnerability of Poor Women to Social Disasters during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study describes the vulnerability of poor women when confronted with the shock of a social disaster in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite increasing vulnerabilities, poor women managed the uncertain situation by utilizing their survival skills. This study was conducted in the middle of 2020 in 22 districts of East Java Province with 457 married women from low-income families serving as respondents. Data were descriptively analyzed and presented in the form of diagrams and narratives. According to the findings of this study, women's vulnerability in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic is caused by a decrease in family income and an imbalance in the domestic roles of men and women at home. Using resilience theory, this study explores how women's adaptability can help them survive in an uncertain situation. However, it was inappropriate for the government to leave these women in a subsistence economic situation; the government did not adequately support poor women through targeted and equitable social assistance programs. Following this social disaster, the role of well-targeted social assistance needs to be addressed to promote gender equality and contribute to the 2030 goals of the MDGs, which include poverty alleviation and the eradication of inequality. Keywords: Vulnerability, Poor women, Poverty, Resilience, Adaptation, Social disaster, COVID-19, Indonesia
Introduction Several studies conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic era revealed that women were quite capable of carrying out their roles in both the domestic and public sectors (Kusumawati, 2012; Ismanto [...]