Covid-19 has burdened working mothers with hours of additional childcare responsibilities, muc to the detriment of their careers, finances, and personal wellbeing.
When schools closed across the UK on 23 March 2020, women found themselves taking on a disproportionate amount of care giving duties.
A recent study published in PLOS ONE found that women spent an average of 22.5 hours a week on childcare and home-schooling in May 2020, while men only spent around 12 hours on these responsibilities. Additionally, working fathers were found to be 7% less likely to change their work patterns due to childcare duties compared to working mothers.
According to UNICEF, women spend roughly three times longer on unpaid domestic duties than men, a burden which has had major implications for women’s employment and income opportunities. The advent of Covid-19 has exacerbated existing inequalities across the globe and, for women, there is economic progress at stake.
What are the economic implications?
Women have been hit hardest economically by Covid-19 because of their high concentration in jobs that are low-wage and face-to-face such as hospitality and retail. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have revealed that more women than men were furloughed between July and December last year.
Mothers who work full-time are particularly at risk. A survey by the Trade Union Congress found that 71% of working mothers who applied for furlough had their request turned down. Many have been forced to take unpaid time off work to look after children, while others have been made redundant due to lack of childcare.
“Consequently, the gender pay gap is increasing as women cut back on paid work to care for children.”
Working mothers are not the only women who are economically affected by the childcare crisis. The childcare sector is female-dominated, meaning women’s livelihoods are disproportionately affected by the closure of childcare providers. A survey by the Early Years Alliance carried out in April last year found that a quarter of childcare providers were worried they would be forced to permanently close within a year.
What does this mean for women?
The role of women in our economy and our workplaces has evolved drastically over the last 100 years, but women’s role within the home has remained stagnant. More women have entered the workplace than ever before, yet it is estimated that roughly three quarters of the unpaid domestic load is still taken on by women.
While the furlough scheme in Britain offers some protection for working mothers, for women in other parts of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating.
Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates foundation’s gender equality division said, “it looks like poverty for women will go up by 9%. That’s almost 50 million more women globally in poverty.”
Mothers who work within the informal economy have been hit hardest as their jobs offer no paid leave, social protection, or the chance to work remotely.
Ellie Hutchings
Featured image courtesy of Standsome Worklifestyle via Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
