abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

2 Jul 2020

Author:
Larry Elliott, The Guardian

COVID-19 fallout leaves women workers especially vulnerable & risks regression in workplace gender equality, says ILO

“Progress on gender equality at risk from COVID-19 jobs crisis, says ILO”, 30 June 2020

Modest progress in workplace gender equality risks being reversed by the disproportionate impact of the…global jobs crisis caused by [COVID-19]…, International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said. The ILO said that even an exceptionally rapid bounce-back in the global economy in the second half of the year would still result in a loss of working hours of 1.2% in 2020 – the equivalent of 34m jobs. It added that its baseline forecast was for 140m jobs to be lost, rising to 340m in the event of a second wave of the pandemic.

The report said women were being especially hard hit by the crisis because they were over-represented in some of the…worst affected [sectors]…, such as accommodation, food, sales and manufacturing. Globally, almost 510 million or 40% of all employed women work in the four most affected sectors, compared with 36.6% of men. [W]omen were also more likely to be employed in the domestic work and health and social care work sectors, where there was a greater risk of job losses and infection. The pre-pandemic unequal distribution of unpaid care work had also worsened during the crisis, exacerbated by the closure of schools and care services…