Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Migration, Livelihood, and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Migrant Construction Workers in Noida and Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh: A Quantitative Study

Background: Migrant construction workers form a large but weakly protected segment of India's informal urban workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing nationwide lockdown disrupted their employment, mobility, housing, and psychosocial wellbeing on an unprecedented scale, yet construction-specific evidence from the National Capital Region remains limited.
Methodology: An exploratory, cross-sectional quantitative design was used. A structured interview schedule was administered to 200 purposively sampled migrant construction workers (100 each from NOIDA and Ghaziabad). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests, Spearman's rank correlation, and exploratory univariate intercept tests. Fisher’s exact tests were used for sparse suicidal-ideation contingency tables. Here, “impact” denotes workers’ self-reported pandemic-related experiences and perceived effects, not an estimate of causal effects.
Results: Respondents were predominantly male (77%), married (77%), and educationally disadvantaged (79.5% with no more than primary schooling). Employment disruption was reported by 91.5% of respondents, and 69.5% reported job loss. Psychological distress was widespread (90.5% reported at least one symptom), and 87.0% reported substance use during the pandemic. Welfare-scheme awareness was negligible (11.6% among respondents), and contractors, not government agencies, were the principal source of support (31.5% vs. 0.5%).
Conclusion: Migrant construction workers reported employment, welfare, and psychosocial vulnerabilities during the pandemic, with support received mainly through informal, contractor-mediated channels rather than formal state mechanisms. Portable welfare entitlements, on-site healthcare, and psychosocial support integrated into labour-welfare schemes are recommended.

migrant construction workers; COVID-19; reverse migration; psychosocial distress; informal labour; quantitative study

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