Let’s start this off by saying, I’m only trying to make heads and/or tails from everything that’s happening to us. By “us”, I mean, us, the world. Globally. I don’t claim to be an expert in any of this. I’m gathering information and sharing a very simple understanding of what I’ve seen. So, thanks for taking the time to hear me rant and scream, what is happening?
The National Women’s Law Center has provided a jaw dropping report on the recent employment numbers. Women have lost a startling (is it really?) 140,000 women jobs with an undertone of, had to leave due to personal obligations for the month of December. As women have taken on more heavily the dual roles as home caretaker and professional is it really that surprising?
The short and not so sweet of it all, is that it comes down to the type of job and job sectors. In the major sectors of leisure & hospitality, government and retail, women made up almost or at least half of the work force. In all cases, the number of women who either had to leave work due to care-taking obligations or layoffs accounted for almost or at least, half of the work force.
In comparison, men managed to gain 16,000 jobs during December. Wealth gap much? At this point, women make forty-five cents on the dollar in comparison to men. By now, we’re aware that this dollar amount is more significant for minority women.
Although I’m generally an optimistic person, the fact is, that the pandemic has strained finances, relationships and our mental health. These traumas are now embedded in our person - genetically even.
What happens to our ability to actively work on the wealth gap? Covid has potentially made it that much more difficult and economically damaging than previous reports. If it’s to the world’s benefit to close the gender gap by $12 trillion within the next four years and we have barely scratched the surface. What now?
Female Minorities Job Losses
Post-Covid Effect on Women
There are multiple reports on the benefits of closing the gender wealth gap and equality.
As per a McKinsey report if there aren’t massive structural and social changes there will be a $12 trillion dollar global loss by 2025 without the contribution of women. What’s truly frightening is that we are four years away and any progress made has been undone by the pandemic.
Globally we have passed the one-year mark of the pandemic. The expectations of society on women have become more skewed. For women fortunate enough to work remote the expectations are much higher. Truth be told, there isn’t a balance anymore. Everything is blurred. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t been on zoom calls, with a kid in the background, laundry on the floor, a sink with dishes and dinner to prep.
If anything, writing this has left me with even more questions. What are the long-term effects on our mental and emotional well-being, what happens to those of us forced to take whatever job is available to survive, what can be done to ensure that the wealth gap is closed? What…? What does it take for society to see a women’s worth?
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