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By: Sydney Carroll
COVID-19 has affected people across the world in ways never imagined. The pandemic has caused death and illness on a large scale, rising unemployment rates, and economic uncertainty. The pandemic has also exacerbated existing issues for already marginalized groups, such as BIPOC, the LGBTQ+ community, and women. During the COVID-19 pandemic, female unemployment rates were at an all-time high, with many women having to leave their jobs to care for their families. The economic and social impacts of the pandemic don’t just affect women, but specifically women in the workforce. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic has further marginalized working women in America and across the globe.
Why have women left the workforce at higher rates than men?
Women have historically taken on a much larger role in the home than men. Researchers from Boston Consulting Group found that working women currently spend an average of 15 hours a week more on unpaid domestic labor than men. In March 2020, childcare facilities and schools shut down globally, meaning that parents suddenly had to transition into quarantine and remote work all while caring for children who were also quarantined. Caroline Whaley, the cofounder of workplace equality consultancy firm Shine, argued that the pandemic could be a “disaster for equality.” Whaley continued that with children at home, progress that has been made for women taking on roles in the workplace outside of simply caring for children, as well as both parents taking equal parenting roles seems to have regressed. This doesn’t only have to do with historical expectations of a woman’s place in a family, but also the fact that lack of equal pay forces women to be the ones who give up their jobs.
In America, women earn on average 18% less hourly than men (US Census), while in the EU that number shifts to 16% (European Union Census). In countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East where women’s rights are in their infancy, those numbers rise. During COVID-19 when families became overwhelmed without childcare and one income had to be given up, women, typically having the lesser income, would be the ones to resign from their jobs. As discussed by the Center for American Progress, “as a result of a variety of factors, including policy choices grounded in racism and sexism, low-wage workers, solo mothers, and women of color—three groups with a considerable overlap—are all too often not in the economic position to leave the paid labor force to care for their children.”
How has the US government supplemented this loss?
All while women and families have been struggling across America, the federal government has done little to supplement these struggles. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) allotted 12 weeks of paid family leave during the pandemic, as well as providing additional SNAP and TANF benefits to families. However, these provisions were weakly carried out. According to Time, “at least 58 lawsuits have been filed in the US from April 2020 to February 2021 that allege an employer denied emergency parental leave.” The US government, rather than providing necessary help beyond poorly thought out provisions, stood silent during the pandemic. During World War II, a universal childcare system was established to provide for mothers who entered the workforce after their husbands went to war. However, like most American programs, once the war was over and there wasn’t an immediate need for the service, it was dissolved. As argued by the chairwoman of NBCUniversal Bonnie Hammer, “When Rosie the Riveter flexed her bicep 80 years ago and said, “We can do it!” she never meant alone. She was answering the call for her generation to join the workforce in droves—but it only worked because the country had acknowledged, at the height of World War II, that it wouldn’t survive without the participation of working women. And the economy changed to help them.” Through not supporting this infrastructure, the US has allowed for women to be pushed out of the workforce - and they will continue to be marginalized until necessary programs are put in place.
When will this issue be resolved?
Simply put, this loss of income for middle to low-income families can be fatal. Amid an economic crisis with the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression, women are now not only losing their income but unable to provide for their families. Worse, this issue didn’t go away once the first lockdown ended, or even as cases slowed and vaccines became widely available. A study by the National Association for the Education of Young Children discovered 40% of childcare centers could close permanently in the next year due to financial struggles. The study also found that 81% of childcare centers are accepting fewer children than in previous years due to social distancing requirements. With childcare remaining closed or having limited availability, and schools nationwide either online or shut down, women are still forced out of the workforce while their children remain at home.
What are the long-term effects of COVID on females?
After over a year with women out of the workforce, it’s becoming clear that this isn’t a temporary issue; rather one that will have long-lasting effects on our economy and the women within it. The Century Foundation estimates that if women continue to be out of the workforce at current levels for another year, it’ll cost the country $64.5 billion. The McKinsey Global Institute has estimated that global GDP growth could be $1 trillion lower in 2030 than it would be if women’s unemployment simply tracked that of men in each sector. The McKinsey Institute’s study continued that one of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic will be women being forced to change jobs when reentering the workforce, as higher-level jobs will have been taken. This means that fewer women will be in leadership positions in the workforce, setting back progress made through hard work over hundreds of years. Business Consultants PriceWaterhouseCoopers discovered, “In order to undo the damage caused by COVID-19 to women in work - even by 2030, progress towards gender equality needs to be twice as fast as its historical rate.” This leaves both women and the gender equality movement in a lurch, requiring even harder work and more process due to circumstances that ultimately no one can control.
In reviewing how the pandemic has affected the marginalization of women, the mass exodus of women from the workforce due to the pandemic stands out as an issue that will affect both women and the economy for years to come. Due to the government’s failure to help these women, as well as society’s inability to adapt to progress quickly, women have once again been sidelined during a major global event. While there’s no telling what women’s employment will look like in the years following the pandemic, there’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic and the halt it put on workplace feminism will harm women for years to come.
Sources Used/Further Reading:
Discussion Questions:
Why do cultural events typically have lasting effects on marginalized groups?
How can the federal government assist women in returning to the workforce?
What are some programs that the government would have implemented during the pandemic to help working moms?
Project female workforce participation rates in 20 years: are they better or worse than in 2015? Why do you think that?
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