Introduction

The second participant interviewed also worked as a maid. She resides in the area of Mehran Town with
her husband, six children, a daughter in law and a grand kid. Her husband works as a barber in one of
the men’s salon. Growing up she never had the opportunity to attend school and received religious
education at a madarsa. Therefore, she made it a priority that all of her children at least complete their
matriculation. They are a family of 10 members with only 2 bread winners, she and her husband. The
elder kids although of age do not contribute in running the household. They only vehicle owned by the
family was a motorbike.

The second participant interviewed in Sec B resides in KAECHS. A family of 5 with two sons and a
daughter. The interviewee was a 35 year old housewife and also the decision maker of the family. Her
husband owns a shop in Saddar selling electronic gadgets and her elder son works as a salesman at a
textile wholesaler’s shop. Her younger son works as a freelancer to finance his education. The younger
two kids are currently completing their matriculation in a nearby school

Changes in Disposable Income

Due to the pandemic, there was a country wide lockdown. With shops closed, the interviewee’s
husband working as a barber on a daily wage was unable to contribute the same level of income.
Simultaneously, the maid was unable to retain some of her work as some people had left their house
help due to the widespread spread of Covid’19. This led to a reduction in the disposable income and
there was less on the table for the family.

For SEC B the interviewee revealed due to the shutdown of shops countywide there was no income
generation for the household. The salary based got delayed salaries which led to a financial struggles for
households.

Changes in Spending Patterns

A key insight derived from one of the interviews was that SEC C made a reduction in bulk buying. With
limited income and loss of work, people were unable to purchase the same quantity of produce and
therefore resorted to purchasing lower quantities with the available money at hand i.e a 1 kg pack
instead of 5kg. Also, instead of going for grocery on a weekly basis prior to the pandemic, she now only
went for groceries on a need basis. Only when she ran out of food staples like
sugar/rice/wheat/spices/salt she would visit the nearby general store to buy a 1 kg pack with the cash
available.

Medium of shopping – Transition

The SEC B interviewee purchased groceries monthly from Imtiaz. However, due to the pandemic she
refrained from visiting the supermarket and shifted towards online buying i.e. Airlift and Panda Mart to
order groceries. The interviewee only purchased items that were being offered on competitive rates on
these online platforms. She also revealed the pandemic she cut down expenses on snacks i.e. biscuits,
chips, juices. Other items consumed less included clothing, skin care, cosmetics. During Covid times, she
stuck to buying food staples due to limited income i.e milk, oil, sugar, rice, wheat, detergent and home
cleaning supplies. The meat consumption also declined significantly.