The pandemic’s toll on women who work
(Courtesy of Beatriz Cordeiro)
18-year-old Brazilian student Beatriz Cordeiro explains how the COVID-19 pandemic affects working women around the world.
The COVID-19 crisis has made one thing clear: Our male-dominated, sexist society undervalues female labor, which puts girls and women at greater risk during crises like pandemics.
Around the world, female health care workers are more likely to get sick from COVID-19 at work than their male colleagues. This is because women tend to work in caregiving roles that involve intimate interactions with patients. Some experts have also suggested that the protective equipment hospitals provide to their employees are designed to fit men, so even the smallest size may be too big — and therefore less effective — for many women.
But though they face greater risk of infection at work, female health care workers are less equipped to deal with the financial consequences of illness. Women at the front lines of the pandemic have lower rates of job security and are paid far less than their male counterparts. Consequently, no matter how ill or tired they might be, many female health care workers cannot afford to skip work or pay for child care if they get sick with COVID-19.
“Though they face greater risk of infection at work, female health care workers are less equipped to deal with the financial consequences of illness. Women at the front lines of the pandemic have lower rates of job security and are paid far less than their male counterparts.”
The pandemic’s financial toll on working women is not limited to the medical field. The COVID-19 crisis is disproportionately disrupting sectors of the economy with high levels of female employees — such as the restaurant, hospitality and travel industries — and more women around the world have lost their jobs than men during the pandemic. The consequences of unemployment are dire for women; job loss can make them more dependent on partners for money, food and shelter, limiting women’s ability to leave home if they experience abuse. To this point, domestic violence cases have surged worldwide since the pandemic began.
Outside of the workforce, women also shoulder much of the responsibility for at-home care work — a job that, while time-intensive, is usually unpaid. Before the pandemic, women did three times as much unpaid and invisible work as men. This additional burden on women has increased during COVID-19 school closures and as older people require additional care. Chores like cooking, cleaning and looking after children are exhausting to do and essential to our economies. Research suggests that the economic contribution of caregiving and homemaking work — performed full-time by 606 million working-age women and just 41 million working-age men — is around $10 trillion a year, accounting for 13% of global growth.
(Courtesy of Beatriz Cordeiro)
I’ve seen the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on working women firsthand. My beloved aunt is a nurse in a Brazilian public hospital. She works all day to pay for her three kids’ education since public education is problematic in Brazil. Her children used to spend the day at school while she worked, but with the pandemic she had trouble dividing herself between those who needed her at work and those who needed her at home — her children are all less than 10 years old and her husband is often absent due to military duties. My aunt’s situation got even tougher when she contracted COVID-19. She was not healthy enough to take care of her children, but social distancing measures limited her options for support. She was constantly worried that she would contaminate her kids, who suffered from seeing their mom in such pain.
Watching a loved one go through this made my quarantine days even sadder. I wanted to help my aunt, but the pandemic meant we had to keep our distance. I felt helpless — I could only imagine how many working women around the world were in the same situation. If my aunt had equal access protective gear at work and less domestic responsibilities at home, she would not have struggled so much to care for herself and her family when she got sick.
“If my aunt had equal access protective gear at work and less domestic responsibilities at home, she would not have struggled so much to care for herself and her family when she got sick.”
Without government intervention, the COVID-19 pandemic will undo years of progress towards equal pay, job stability and financial independence for working women. As a young woman myself, I am worried that my future daughters and other girls will grow up believing that they are less capable than men or that their work — both domestic and not — is less valuable.
If leaders want to take action on behalf of working women like my aunt, they must ensure equal pay for female employees across sectors, but especially for women health care workers who face a greater risk from COVID-19 at work. Governments must also expand social safety nets — like services that protect women from domestic abuse — and increase unemployment benefits, especially for marginalized groups. It is also essential for authorities to invest in unpaid care work and build economic packages that support stay-at-home and single mothers. Lastly, employers should be required to adopt flexible work hours so that working women with increased at-home care responsibilities can keep earning a living during crises. No woman should have to choose between her well-being and professional success.
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