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(CNN Español) – Women and girls have borne the brunt of the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic because, as UN Women puts it, “the impacts of crises are never gender neutral”. And the Covid-19 crisis is no exception.
The coronavirus pandemic has made gender inequality more evident, affecting women more, according to a United Nations report.
“Globally, 70% of healthcare workers and emergency personnel are women,” UN Women said in a September 2020 report. “Yet they are not on par with their male counterparts. With 28%, the gap gender pay in the health sector is higher than the overall gender pay gap.
UN Women also noted that “poor and marginalized women run an even greater risk of transmission and death of COVID-19, loss of livelihoods and increased violence.”
In economic and health terms, women have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. Here are some examples.
More and more women have lost their jobs during the coronavirus crisis
Hundreds of thousands of women – nearly eight times the number of men – left the U.S. workforce in September 2020, according to U.S. government information released in October.
According to the government released on Friday, some 617,000 women left the workforce in September alone, compared with just 78,000 men. Half of the women who dropped out of school had a better working age between 35 and 44.
Additionally, the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has hit women of color the most, according to C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
“We are talking about women who earn less than $ 40,000 a year, who are … supermarket clerks, restaurant workers, who if they don’t show up for work, that is, in a physical location, they don’t get paid,” he said Mason. on CNN. “So it’s a very, very difficult time for many of these women and many of these workers.”
Millions of girls have dropped out of school
The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, UNESCO, estimates that 11 million girls will stop going to school in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The number, defined as “alarming” by the organization, puts thousands of girls at risk of teenage pregnancy, early and forced marriages, as well as violence.
More women are at risk of extreme poverty
According to a report by UN Women, the coronavirus pandemic will put 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021. Of that global figure, 47 million will be girls and women, according to UN Women.
And, with this situation, “more women will be pushed into the extreme poverty of men”, says the UN.
“In 2021, there will be 118 women between the ages of 25 and 34 in extreme poverty in the world for every 100 men between the ages of 25 and 34 in extreme poverty, and this percentage could rise to 121 poor women for every 100 poor men. 2030 ”, states the UN Women report.
And with the decline in economic activity, women, who typically earn less than men, are the most vulnerable to layoffs and ways to make a living, said Antra Bhatt, statistician and co-author of the From Insights to Action report. by UN Women.
Women are doing more unpaid work during the pandemic
Before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, women did nearly three times more unpaid care and housework than men, according to UN Women.
Due to covid-19’s worldwide incarceration orders since March 2020, childcare, unpaid work and nursing work have mostly fallen on women, a situation that “further limits their ability to doing paid work, especially when the work cannot be done remotely, ”says the UN.
The mass dropout rate of women from the workforce in September 2020 is at least in part due to the lack of childcare options, said Russel Price, chief economist at Ameriprise, in comments sent to CNN. Employment in childcare services was still down nearly 18% in September from pre-pandemic levels, he added.
More women are health workers
Women make up 70% of the health workforce, according to the United Nations. Many are nurses, midwives and community health workers. But they also represent the majority of service personnel in health care facilities “such as cleaners, washing machines and food suppliers,” UN Women says.
Despite this and the high exposure they must be infected with covid-19, many of them still do not receive the same salaries and occupy fewer leadership positions than men, according to the United Nations.
The consequences will last beyond the pandemic
With the development of several coronavirus vaccines in sight, which could provide a peaceful landscape and a solution, at least in part to the pandemic, the situation of women appears to have no short-term solution.
According to UN Women, the consequences of the coronavirus “will not go away” when the pandemic ends. “Women are likely to suffer setbacks in terms of labor force participation and earnings.”
Furthermore, the UN assures, the impacts on their savings and pensions will have negative implications on women’s economic security in the future.
To this end, experts recommend that governments include women in recovery efforts to mitigate the negative impact on the lives of millions of them. Actions include: granting direct financial support to women, direct funding of women’s initiatives, support for working women and the provision of paid leave and a reduced or flexible work regime.
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