Here’s Why Women are Hit Hardest by the Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone in some way, but women have been hit the hardest economically.
In the U.S. and abroad, women have disproportionately lost jobs and income. More women are low-wage workers whose jobs are more likely to have been furloughed or eliminated. Or if they managed to keep their jobs, the demands of child care have often forced many to give up work to care for children. And for those who work from home, with schools closed, women have often taken on more domestic duties—such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare—than men, making doing their jobs even more difficult.
And as we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, we examine the implications these job losses have not just for women, but for the entire economy.
The pandemic’s outsize impact on women
In December 2020 alone 100% of the job losses in the U.S. were women. Women lost 156,000 jobs in that month, while men gained 16,000.
And during the first months of the economic shutdowns, when 20.5 million people lost their jobs, women were affected most when businesses closed their doors, losing more than half of their jobs (Women lost 5.3 million jobs, compared to 4.6 million jobs for men).
Making changes now—during the pandemic—to increase gender equality both in the workplace and outside of it could mean $13 trillion in GDP growth by 2030, the same study found. Building better childcare infrastructure and increasing access to technology, for example, can create jobs and opportunities for women to advance. If those changes happen once the economy has recovered from the pandemic, that predicted growth would fall by $5 trillion.
Historically, women entering the workforce have been beneficial for economic growth. In the U.S., every 10% increase in the participation of women in the working world has resulted in 5% growth in median real wages for men and women, according to a Harvard Business Review July, 2018, study. Making employment more accessible to women may further that growth.
In order to achieve greater gender equality, legislators need to improve the solutions in place for working parents to allow them to work and take care of their children, says a Brookings Institution report. Designing a greater and more affordable childcare infrastructure could allow mothers to more easily return to work after having children, according to a February 2021, study from American Progress.
#GenderEquality #WomenInTheWorkforce #Shecession