Within the first year of the pandemic, 54 million women around the world lost their jobs, widening the gender gap in employment. Out of this 54 million, around 90 percent left the labor force completely compared to about 70% of men. The Washington Post analyzed data from Thailand, Peru, and France to study the impact of the pandemic on the gender gap in employment.

According to estimates by the International Labor Organization, between 2019 and 2020, female employment has declined by 4.2 percent compared to 3 percent for men. The Post’s study identified one reason for this is that in most countries, women were disproportionately represented in service sector jobs such as in hospitality, retail, and foodservice which were devastated by continuous or recurring lockdowns. In Thailand, for example, the collapse of the tourism industry hit women hard – by the second quarter of 2020, 339,000 women had lost their jobs compared to 5,500 male workers as 30% of all women were working in sectors that were the most affected by the pandemic.

Another reason for the unequal distribution of unemployment among men and women is that around the world, more women than men were working informal jobs without job security, regular hours, and benefits.

In addition to the disproportionate share of job losses, data from Peru revealed that women are also recovering from job losses slower than men, and many have been further forced to move from the formal to the informal workforce. Moreover, women’s hours of unpaid labor have also increased as they took on more responsibility within their households for childcare, elder care, and homeschooling.

However, while the gender gap in employment has widened universally, in some countries, the gap has narrowed, such as in the case of France, where in late 2020, the gap narrowed to a record low in the past 10 years. Analysis of data obtained at the early stages of the pandemic from France showed that social welfare programs across the European Union may have cushioned the fall in female employment. While this is news worth celebrating, it is too early to decide how long the country’s social safety net would protect women.

Looking at global trends, data analysts worry that the pandemic has canceled out decades of progress towards gender equality. Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the World economic Fund says, “What the data are telling us is that it could take a generation longer to get to equality.”

Sources:

Rauhala, E., Narayanswamy, A., Sin, Y., & Ledur, J. (2021). How the pandemic set back women’s progress in the global workforce. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/coronavirus-women-work/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_main