Urban poverty and gender inequality in Peru: durable patterns and new dynamics after the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many different long-term consequences on the livelihood of the majority of the population in Latin America. On many counts, it has also worsened gender inequalities. For example, a study shows that prior to the pandemic, Latin American women fared better in financial inclusion than their male counterpart; this gender gap has been reversed after the pandemic (Lorain et al. 2025). Acevedo et al. (2025) argue that labour market gender gaps widened on the wake of the pandemic in Latin America, particularly for young urban women. Less research has been made on the multiple dimensions of persistent and worsening gender gaps that are intertwined with household-based changes, care burden and arrangements. Based on a mixed methods research on poor and precarious households in Metropolitan Lima, the paper analyses the differential impact of the economic crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, in relation to the following households´ characteristics: female or male head of household; social program beneficiary or not; and household configuration (number of dependents; number of economically active members). The analysis focusses on changing survival strategies, care burden, and the role of state-funded social programs in household economy. Research includes 30 in-depth interviews with women aged 20-45 in poor urban neighborhoods of Metropolitan Lima, and longitudinal statistical data analysis of households. The main hypothesis that will be tested is that household dynamics have changed significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic, with increased gender inequality in care burden and employment resulting from more numerous dependents, unchanged social programs, and continuing traditional sexual division of labour in care work, among other factors. Acevedo, I., Castellani, F., Lotti, G., & Székely, M. (2024). Labour market gender gaps in the time of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Applied Economics, 57(19), 2317–2332. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2024.2323550 Lorain, M.A., Barreal-Pernas, J., Jannes, G., Urquía-Grande, E. López-Sánchez, P. and Sierra, J. (2025) Unraveling financial exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic: A gender perspective in Latin American countries, World Development, Volume 188, 106924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.106924.