As we enter the seventh month of a seemingly endless quarantine, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to magnify and worsen pre-existing social and economic inequalities, especially as it relates to women. In the past decade, massive progress has been made towards closing the gender-wage gap and increasing female presence in the labor force and in positions of leadership. But recent reports and studies published in the past few months suggest that the ground gained in the last few decades is rapidly disappearing as cases continue to climb and the economy struggles to stay afloat. Here is a list of the top ways that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted women:
1 | Women, especially women of color, are being laid off at higher rates than men.
In past economic recessions, it has generally been men in manufacturing and construction industries who are the first to feel the force of layoffs and job losses. However, 2020 has proved to be a reversal of this trend. The industries most vulnerable to the attack of the pandemic are typically female-oriented industries, including dining, hospitality, non-essential retail, and entertainment.
Here are a few alarming statistics gleaned from the September 2020 jobs report done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
● ~865,000 women dropped out of the workforce compared to 216,000 men since August.
● White men and white women have seen their unemployment rates drop back down to single digits from their peaks in April, but the unemployment rate for Black and Latina women was still in the double digits at ~11%.
● White men and women saw 60% of all the jobs lost this year come back, while the same figure was 39% for Black women and 34% for Latina women.
2 | Women are feeling greater pressure to scale back on work responsibilities or leave their jobs entirely compared to men.
Traditionally, women have been the caretakers of the home while men act as the primary breadwinners. So it comes as little surprise that with the closure of schools and childcare services, women are the ones deciding to stay at home, primarily citing childcare responsibilities as the main reason. Even before pandemic times, women performed a significantly larger chunk of “unpaid labor” - housework and childcare - than men while still being employed full-time. Statistical data from Lean In’s “Women in the Workplace” Report stated that mothers are 3 times more likely to be responsible for most of the household labor. It also found that one in four women are considering downsizing their careers or leaving the workforce altogether due to the pandemic.
Source: Lean In
3 | Women, especially LGBTQ+ women and women with disabilities, are feeling a greater sense of “mental burnout” compared to men.
Data from Lean In’s “Women in the Workplace” report shows that women in general are having a worse experience dealing with the mental toll brought on by the pandemic. It is also important to note that women aren’t a monolith; womens’ experiences can vary greatly depending on sexual and racial identity, or whether or not they have a disability.
Source: Lean In
4 | Women are more likely to face domestic violence and sexual violence during lockdowns.
Known as the “shadow pandemic”, experts believe that stay-at-home orders and the limiting of personal movement has contributed to a rise in domestic violence across the world. Before the pandemic, data showed that one in four women experienced intimate partner violence, with a disproportionate share being women of color. Factors that contribute to an increase in domestic violence include economic instability, unsafe housing, and a lack of child care and social support. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated all these factors and trapped women with their abusers. In certain parts of the country, calls to domestic violence hotlines have increased, while in other parts, they have declined. For example, the New York Times reported that domestic-violence-related calls to the Chicago Police Department have increased 12% from January 2020 to mid-April 2020 compared with that same time period in 2019. However, the Los Angeles and New York police departments have reported a decrease in the number of calls, but experts attribute this to the fact that it is harder for victims to access services now since the nature of quarantine means closer proximity to one’s abuser.
Source: UN Women
article by Madeline Lorie ’23
design by Carolyn Lu ’24