Supply and Demand for Maternal and Child Health Services During a Pandemic: Evidence from ICDS Workers in Odisha

In this study, the researchers will investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the various demand and supply-side factors relating to maternal and child health services, and consequently, child malnutrition. The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns in India likely led to reductions in the supply and demand for maternal and child health services. Possible factors include: (i) parents’ unwillingness to seek out services owing to fears of COVID-19 infection, (ii) disruptions to the availability of vaccines, (iii) disruptions to food supply chains and take-home rations for children, and (iv) reallocation of tasks for health workers toward COVID-19 detection and containment. The researchers propose to conduct phone surveys with 6,000 workers of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in Odisha, India, who were earlier surveyed in 2018, to investigate these issues in depth. In addition, this will enable the researchers to form a panel dataset spanning periods before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more about this project on the COVID-19 project page here. Read the policy brief for this project here.