Covid-19 offers chance to examine existing gender biases

Our world will never be the same after Covid-19. Health crises magnify existing inequalities and this pandemic is reshaping our lives and if nothing is done, women will be burdened with more than they can possibly do. If all rise to the occasion, however, we may change our workplaces and households for the better – and forever.

With the lockdowns gradually lifting globally, we are emerging into a different world. The pandemic has typically set us on a new normal. As it evolves, it’s important to monitor how health risks, household responsibilities and job vulnerability affect women and men differently.

From heightened exposure to domestic violence, to increased unpaid care and health concerns, Covid-19 has brought with it new challenges for women. Its economic impact has hit them harder.

Women make up 70 per cent of workers in the health and social sector, and they do three times as much unpaid care work than men. 

INEQUALITIES

Covid-19 has increased the unpaid work for women. Schools closed and most employees were asked to work from home. The new needs of home and childcare expose inequalities that already existed, but were mitigated by leave-in house helps and family support. These same women contribute 70 per cent of the frontline workers in health sector, the core of Covid-19 response where they work day and night.

A friend interestingly put it: “I was already working harder than I thought possible. I’m now supposed to be a high-performing employee (from home), a reassuring mother during a pandemic, my kid’s teacher and a wife!”

Although both women and men face these burdens, women are substantially likely to perform most of the unpaid care and domestic tasks. In the ‘new normal’, women do the bulk of the childcare though this is no surprise as it happened in the ‘old normal’ too.  

Some women lost their jobs because they had to stay at home and take care of the children after school closed. Some in informal sector like hairdressers are forced to tag their children along to their work places, something that exposes them to dangers of Covid-19, among other ills.

Persistent social norms perpetrate the uneven division of the burden of childcare between women and men. On a positive note, Covid-19 could push these norms towards more gender equality. Many fathers working from home during this crisis are likely to increase their childcare responsibilities. This could have persistent effect on future contributions to childcare. In a few families, fathers will temporarily become primary childcare providers, changes likely to push social norms towards more equality in childcare and house work.

WAGE GAP

Covid-19 is itself a huge economic crisis. Women earn 16 per cent less than men on average, and the pay gap goes as high as to 35 per cent globally. International Labour Organization says women earn a fifth less than men. The wage gap has been narrowing, but with the pandemic, it could take 70 years to reach gender parity according to UN-Women.

Women’s workplace equality is likely to face a setback unless the government implements gender responsive measures. The pandemic has hit industries where women are over-represented, like retail and hospitality harder. Blue chip companies have chopped staff salaries while informal and small-scale businesses have fired staff. More women have lost their jobs. Others have disproportionately cut back on job hours to take care of their children.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics latest data show that the pandemic has rendered more than 50 per cent of working women jobless.  Going forward, we are likely to see men go back to work and women stay home. This, and potentially other sources of stress, mean women will continue to suffer more, mentally.

Studies show that Covid-19 is also likely to accelerate the infrastructure around flexible working lessening the penalty on women. Essentially, some fathers will value spending time with their children, making this a priority in decisions around flexible working and paternity leave. 

Many companies adopted work-from-home options. These changes are likely to persist, leading to more workplace flexibility in the future. Women stand to benefit more from these changes. Research has shown that lack of flexibility in work arrangements and hours are among the sources of the gender pay gap.

24-HOUR HELPLINE

These economic challenges also pose a threat to young women’s work, exposing them to increased risk of exploitation.  Most could take on high-risk work for their survival going forward.

With people spending time indoors due to curfew, domestic violence has been on the rise.  Worldwide, it has increased by at least 30 per cent, according to the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres. Locally, data from the national gender helpline 1195 shows that in April, 461 reports of sexual and gender-based violence were made to the 24-hour hotline compared to 115 in March. For every three months the lockdown continues, an additional 15 million cases of GBV are expected globally say studies.

This implies more broken homes going forward. Violence threatens family structures; children suffer emotional damage; broken families mostly leave the new female head of household to struggle against increased poverty and negative social repercussions. Victims of gender violence may vent their frustrations on their children who may accept violence as an alternative means of conflict resolution and communication; this way, violence is reproduced and perpetuated.

Harmful practices like FGM and child marriages continue unabated as a result of curfew and school closure. A likelihood result is that more girls will drop out of school, exacerbating the gender gap.

UN-Women says a rise in violence against women will not only exacerbate the economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis, but will also slow down economic recovery across the world.