ABSTRACT
The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is the greatest challenge of the century and has affected human life in unprecedented ways. It has led to severe and acute losses in almost all economies around the world. The World Health Organization, which has officially declared the outbreak a pandemic, has called on “all countries to continue efforts that have been effective in limiting the number of cases and slowing the spread of the virus”. Because of the absence of specific vaccines or treatments for Covid-19, many countries like India and several in the EU chose a lockdown strategy to contain the spread and to protect their populations. This approach aims to reverse pandemic growth, reducing case numbers to low levels by social distancing the entire population, closing schools and universities, and halting all non-essential economic activities. Travel agencies, tangible business meetings, and hotels were prohibited to execute their operations. “Work from home” has become the new normal. The objective of this paper is to analyse the impacts of the lockdown due to Covid-19 on work–life balance of homemakers and working women. The dynamics of the working environment has exerted huge pressure on women both engaged in paid work outside their home and those who are part of unpaid work. Work–life balance is vital for women to cope with the family and work. A healthy work–life balance assumes great significance for working women particularly in the current context in which both the family and the workplace have posed several challenges and problems for them.
