The World Bank's study titled "The Influence of Covid-19 on Young Women's Labour Market Aspirations and Expectations in India" shows that the pandemic significantly reduced the wage aspirations of young women in rural India by 25 per cent, leading to a 90 per cent decrease in the aspiration gap. This adjustment is not indicative of reduced ambition but reflects a pragmatic response to post-pandemic labor market dynamics.
The study was conducted in Haryana by S Anukriti, Catalina Herrera-Almanza, and Sophie Ochmann, and found that the pandemic reduced "wage expectations" by 13 per cent, leading to a 90 per cent reduction in the "aspiration gap" among young rural women. The study, which involved 3,180 female vocational trainees, found that the pandemic reduced rural women's willingness to migrate to urban areas by 65 per cent due to uncertainty, fear of job loss, and lack of social security. Wage aspiration refers to a worker's willingness to accept a job, while wage expectation is their anticipated wage based on economic conditions.
The study further mentioned, "Instead, the pandemic made the aspirations of young rural women more realistic. The decrease in their willingness to migrate is likely to decrease their expected income given that migration to urban areas is an important pathway to higher incomes for many rural households."
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