As we know, the pandemic has not helped the inequalities between women and men. Worse, it could permanently undermine the progress made by women over the past three decades to reduce their economic gap with men, said the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva in a blog post published on Tuesday.
The Covid-19 has led to an increase in unemployment for women as in the United States, where, between April and June 2020, this rate was two percentage points higher than that of men, underlines the IMF. And for good reason, they occupy more jobs in hard-hit sectors, such as service industries, retail sales, tourism or hotels.
Less telework, more housework
The inequalities do not end there. Due to the nature of their job, telecommuting is not an option for many women (about 54% of women in the United States and 67% in Brazil).
Additionally, women tend to do more unpaid housework than men, about 2.7 hours per day more, according to IMF data. "They assume most of the family responsibilities resulting from containment measures such as school closures," continue Fund officials.
Dropping out of school
Once the measures are lifted, it takes longer for women to find full-time employment. In Canada, an employment report in May showed that women's employment rose 1.1%, compared with 2.4% for men, due to persistent childcare problems.
More tragically, in many developing countries, young girls are forced to drop out of school and work to supplement household income. And in India, since the entry into force of the lockdown, organized marriages for young girls have increased by 30%.
“Without education, these girls suffer from a permanent loss of human capital (…) perpetuating the cycle of poverty among women”, deplore the authors.
There are solutions
However, "well-designed policies to foster recovery can mitigate the negative effects of the crisis on women and avoid further setbacks for gender equality," they write.
He also cited positive initiatives in Austria, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia, where a statutory right to (partially) paid leave for parents with children below a certain age has been established.
France had extended sick leave to parents affected by school closures if no support or other way of working could not be found.
Society
Coronavirus: Housing, teleworking, exposure to the virus ... The French not all equal in the face of the epidemic
Politics
Coronavirus: Marlène Schiappa fears the "silent exhaustion" of women during confinement
- Unemployment
- gender equality
- Economy
- Womens rights