Abstract:

People in Bangladesh have been experiencing a harsh economic reality since the advent of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The marginal people have been the worst sufferers of the pandemic with regards to their socioeconomic aspects. This study aimed at investigating the socioeconomic conditions of the maidservants in Dhaka City who have fallen into job loss caused by COVID-19. This is a qualitative study taken place at Nayagram situated in Kamrangirchar area of Dhaka South City Corporation. The data have been collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed in narrative way. It has been found that the maidservants have lost their jobs in the beginning of the pandemic which has brought severe economic crisis in their families; affected their food intake, housing, children’s education, and health care. They have been forced to adopt different strategies including a reduction of food consumption, skipping some basic needs, negotiating the home rents with the owners, searching for aid, and engaging the male(s) of the families to avail any means of survival.

Kazi, S. H., & Mia, M. J. (2021). Livelihood of the Maidservants in Dhaka City during COVID-19. Journal of Sociology, 12(1), 47–62. University of Dhaka.