Gender Equality Setbacks Create Female Recession
"Women make up 39% of global employment but account for 54% of overall job losses as of May 2020. At the same time, the burden of unpaid care, which has risen in the pandemic, falls disproportionately on women." states the Harvard Business Review.
McKinsey estimates that the 'global GDP growth could be $1 trillion lower in 2030 than it would be if women’s unemployment simply tracked that of men in each sector'. They go on to say, "Conversely, taking action now to advance gender equality could be valuable, adding $13 trillion to global GDP in 2030 compared with the gender-regressive scenario. A middle path—taking action only after the crisis has subsided rather than now—would reduce the potential opportunity by more than $5 trillion. The cost of that delay amounts to three-fourths of the total global GDP we could potentially lose to COVID-19 this year."
Traditional perceptions of the societal role of mothers are a major factor in the disparity of the impact. While women with partners may have some form of relief, more than 15.7 million women are estimated to be the sole caregiver for their children, leaving them with even fewer options. We are looking at more than just a temporary set back here. From taking lower-ranking roles in organizations to having to change roles or industries completely, these parents are going to feel the economic blowbacks for, what could quite possibly be, the rest of their working lives.
Work from Home Options Fail Working Parents
"Florida State University has announced that come early August, it will not continue to allow employees to work from home while simultaneously taking care of their children."
While this may not be your company's stance, it is a growing sentiment amongst corporations. The additional stress this puts on the parent is almost insurmountable. With child care options at an all-time low, tighter budgets at home, and parents caring for multiple family members at once, the rise of mental health impacts.
- The number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed. From January to September 2020, 315,220 people took the anxiety screen, a 93 percent increase over the 2019 total number of anxiety screens. 534,784 people took the depression screen, a 62 percent increase over the 2019 total number of depression screens.
- The number of people screening with moderate to severe symptoms of depression and anxiety has continued to increase throughout 2020 and remains higher than rates prior to COVID-19. In September 2020, the rate of moderate to severe anxiety peaked, with over 8 in 10 people who took an anxiety screen scoring with moderate to severe symptoms. Over 8 in 10 people who took a depression screen have scored with symptoms of moderate to severe depression consistently since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. - Mental Health Association
From panic attacks to full nervous breakdowns, mothers, in particular, are carrying so much more of the load at home that they can't seem to get a breath. If there is a partner in the home, past parenting agreements have dissolved or abandoned as his career has taken precedence, and even when the mother out earns her male partner, she is still the main source of planning, management, and attention for all household items.
2020 will be the death of the working mother - Scary Mommy
"Unless you can survive on three hours of sleep, telework, and have the magical ability to wash clothes with your mind, this is impossible."
Scary Mommy, one of the top bloggers on motherhood, shares some staggering views on the pressures that working moms are experiencing - and the lack of a solution. From. the fear that we will damage our relationship with our children and their view of us as parents in general, to the mounting pressures from organizations that are ill-equipped to accommodate what a truly flexible work structure needs to be in these times, Scary Mommy lays it all on the line.
Gender Equality is set to step back not just a year in its timeline, we are going to lose decades. Working women who have lost their jobs or have had to decide to step back, will most likely be replaced with a male counterpart with less experience. If and when they decide to go back to the workforce their jobs will no longer be there, and their family life will have been forever changed. Without the ability to work in a part-time capacity, employers are letting go of their female employees at a rate of 5 to 1 since the pandemic.
We told Rosie the Riveter to leave her kitchen and serve her country, and now we are telling our working moms to take care of their families and let go of hard-earned careers, where there is still wage disparity, to hopefully come back one day.