Socio-economic Constraints Jordanian Women Had Encountered as a Result of COVID-19 Pandemic, and Coping Mechanisms

Abstract

This research paper sheds light on what Jordanian women had to endure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects, since the imposition of the full lock-down and shelter-in-place order in March of 2020. The paper primarily aims to identify socio-economic constraints Jordanian women encountered during this period, and to explore the coping mechanisms women had adopted. A total of 480 women had partaken in this study; who were randomly selected from different regions in Jordan. The findings suggest that women had suffered more from social constraints as opposed to economic ones, the foremost of which was directly pertinent to the outbreak. This includes increasing household chores and caregiving work, due to the long time women had to stay home, in addition to the burdens of applying health safety precautions and online learning. As for economic constraints, women had specifically suffered from declining income and increasing financial burdens in general. Statistically significant differences in favor of the lower age groups, families with more children and less monthly income, women working in the government sector, and women residing in the Badia regions have been detected. The findings also indicated that the most prominent mechanisms that helped women cope with the constraints are prayer, participation in the public debate about the pandemic, and self-sufficiency. It was also found that such coping mechanisms are more correlated to economic as opposed to social constraints.