Though it has been years since the first strike of the 2020 pandemic and the world is still working to implement a "new normal" way of living, COVID-19 continues to uproot lives and shift the playing field economically and societally. This has most notably occurred to the women of the workplace.
For our Candidates that have been skilling up in Data Analytics, check out this visualization. The overlay of global data puts it in perspective. It is not just a problem here in the United States.
In a study of available data analyzed by The Washington Post, researchers found that the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic "knocked 54 million women around the world out of work" and that 90% of women left the work force completely as a result. While collecting global data from countries like Peru, Thailand, and France, the Washington Post aims to answer the question: Why did this happen?
Evidently, within these countries, it was shown that the misrepresentation of labor and the lack of support or benefits for female workers were to blame for the decline of female employment. When speaking to three women from each respective country, it was learned that "women’s employment declined by 54 million, or 4.2 percent, in 2020 compared with 3 percent for men" due to unpaid labor, absence of childcare and domestic
The Washington Post.
support services, and overall being forced to lose the savings and business enterprises investments they worked diligently for just to be able to live.
At Untapped Potential Inc., we often talk to women who step out of careers or down-size their careers to manage caregiving and families. Even the moms who are still working part-time, and benefit from some income, tend to have lost other built-in supports tied to career track full-time jobs, like: health insurance and the ability to continue to grow a 401k. Many times the type of part-time work Moms take is not at their caliber nor enough to pay for childcare. When free or low-cost childcare associated with schools and other local organizations ceased operating in person, and/or the hours in school were not covered, women lost the most feasible options to continue juggling work and care.
Dig deep into the interactive chart to follow the color code of blue (women) v. gold (male) statistics.
The Washington Post.
You'll see that participation rates of women and men has always differed (been unequal). By scrolling on the chart one can see just how unequal country by country of the study. Captured above shows Norway in bold. It seems to be the most equal in gender participation by how close the yellow and blue lines have been historically. It also seems to have suffered the least dip (loss of participation) of either male and female during the pandemic while other countries have a wide participation gap and drastic drops during the pandemic era.
Read the full article at The Washington Post to see the data. Consider what you or your company can do to help women thrive in the workplace. Never underestimate the power of re-launching your own career...it can contribute to key workplace shifts.