Gendered precarity: examining livelihood disruptions experienced by women fish workers in coastal Kerala during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose This paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic intensified gendered labour precarity among women fish workers in Kerala's small-scale fisheries. Drawing on feminist political economy and a human rights–based approach, it analyses how pre-existing inequalities in informal labour markets, mobility, debt and governance interacted with pandemic-era state interventions to reshape women's livelihoods, risks and wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a qualitative, two-phase research design combining pre-pandemic survey data from 90 women fish workers across nine coastal villages in southern Thiruvananthapuram with follow-up in-depth interviews conducted during the COVID-19 period. Data are analysed thematically through a human rights–based analytical framework to examine labour conditions, market access, mobility, indebtedness and state practices. Findings The findings show that women fish workers entered the pandemic in structurally precarious positions marked by high debt dependence and daily income insecurity. COVID-19 restrictions disrupted fish availability, markets and transport, sharply increasing operational costs and income volatility. Women experienced intensified competition, particularly from newly mobile male traders, alongside extended working hours, spatial displacement of vending activities and heightened risk-taking. Discriminatory policing and uneven enforcement of restrictions further constrained women's mobility and access to markets, deepening economic insecurity and psychosocial stress. These dynamics reveal how crisis governance amplified gendered inequalities embedded in informal labour systems. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on selected coastal villages in southern Kerala and partly relies on phone interviews conducted during the pandemic, limiting opportunities for extended observation. Future research could adopt longitudinal and comparative approaches across coastal regions to assess post-pandemic recovery and debt trajectories. Practical implications The findings highlight the need for gender-responsive fisheries governance, including formal recognition of women selling fish as workers, crisis-responsive social protection, equitable market access, transport support and reforms to policing practices affecting informal livelihoods. Originality/value The paper contributes to social economics and development debates by integrating feminist political economy and human rights perspectives to explain how crises reconfigure gendered precarity in informal labour. It offers empirically grounded insights relevant to inclusive recovery policies and SDGs 5, 8 and 10.