Covid-19 crisis could set women back decades, experts fear
Gender pay gap
The coronavirus crisis led the government to exempt companies from having to file gender pay gap data this year, and as a result only half did, according to Business in the Community. “It is hugely disappointing to see so many opted out when the legal requirement was lifted, and a worrying sign of attitudes towards gender equality during the crisis,” said Charlotte Woodworth, a gender equality campaign director.
Analysis of those that did produce data suggests it will take almost 200 years to close the gap, says Dr Wanda Wyporska, the executive director of the Equality Trust. “Undoubtedly women are bearing the brunt of this, as they did in austerity when 86% of cuts fell on women,” she said. “There is a cumulative effect which consistently pushes progress back.”
Maternity discrimination
Some pregnant healthcare workers say the have been pushed into working during the crisis, while others have complained of being laid off. Joeli Brearley, the founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, is fearful of a rise in discrimination, as a result of which 54,000 women a year already lose their jobs.
“In times of crisis, employers tend to revert to conventional ways of working. Pregnancy is considered a burden, while mothers are seen as distracted and less committed,” she said. “We are seeing a blatant erosion of employment rights for pregnant women during this crisis, and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.’’
Childcare
Experts also predict a childcare crisis, and the Fawcett Society estimates that 150,000 providers could go out of business.
Given that 97% of the childcare workforce are female, it risks being a double hit, said Neil Leitch, the chief executive of the Early Years Alliance. “The early years sector was already operating on a hand to mouth basis after years of inadequate government funding,” he said. “The fear is that many providers will close their doors permanently.”
According to new research from the Office for National Statistics, men are doing more than an hour less unpaid labour than women each day, but they are increasing their responsibilities.
That could be transformative, says Suzy Levy, the managing director of The Red Plate consultancy. “For men working form home for the first time, Covid-19 has given them a taste of what life could be like,” she said. “They are actually seeing their children and they are understanding the loss of what they had before.”
Violence against women and girls
Reports suggest that lockdowns across the globe have resulted in a huge increase in violence against women. Refuge, which runs the national domestic abuse helpline in the UK, has had a 10-fold increase in visits to its website in the past two weeks, and two-thirds of survivors responding to a Women’s Aid survey in April said violence had escalated under lockdown.
In response, the government announced £67m to support vulnerable people, including £27m in emergency funding for domestic abuse services. “It’s really welcome and will make a real difference, but it’s not the amount we need,” said Lucy Hadley, the policy lead at Women’s Aid, which estimates the sector requires £393m a year in England alone.
The focus on domestic violence could have positive repercussions, said Sarah Green, the director of the End Violence Against Women coalition. “If it leads to greater understanding that we all have a responsibility for each other that would be a powerful legacy,” she said.
Politics
At this week’s liaison committee grilling of Boris Johnson, Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, asked the prime minister what the gender balance should be in the key team tackling the crisis. “That is a question on which I’m not competent enough to pronounce,” he replied. Nokes suggested the figure should be 50%.
“I do have grave concerns that we are just not hearing women’s voices at the top of government,” she said. “We are in such a critical moment, and while men are dying in greater numbers, it risks being women who are more negatively impacted possibly for a very long time to come.”
But the future, says Helen Pankhurst, the convener of the women’s rights coalition Centenary Action Group, and great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, is yet to be written. “Sometimes these massive shifts can be really positive,” she said. “There is a very real danger we will go backwards, but with enough voice and collective demands there could be a resetting and recalibration. Hope is so important.”
Read the original article at The Guardian