Social Distancing a Luxury That Workers on $2 a Day Can’t Afford

  • India’s informal economy to be badly affected by pandemic
  • Migrant laborers face the economic brunt of social distancing
People wearing protective masks stand in front of shuttered stores in Old Delhi on March 22.Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg
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Baby Devi has already lost 80% of her monthly earnings to the spread of the coronavirus -- and the worst in India may be yet to come.

The 38-year-old mother of four, who cleans homes for a living, lost jobs with two of her three employers. Like many relatively well-off Indians, they’ve begun social distancing to fight the highly infectious virus.