{"id":10713,"date":"2021-03-12T12:44:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T12:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/?post_type=question&p=10713"},"modified":"2021-03-18T15:16:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T15:16:44","slug":"women-and-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"question","link":"https:\/\/www.economicsobservatory.com\/test\/women-and-the-pandemic","title":{"rendered":"Women and the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Newsletter from 12 March 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week started with International Women\u2019s Day<\/a>, an opportunity to think about how we can forge a gender equal world. The Economics Observatory contributed to this conversation with a week of reflections on the damaging effect of the pandemic on gender equality in the UK \u2013 the impact on women in developing countries will be a focus for next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week also saw the re-opening of schools in England, which will have brought relief to many working mothers who have been juggling work and home schooling. Being able to socialise in-person with friends will also be important for teenage girls, who have experienced the biggest declines in their mental health<\/a> during the periods of lockdown and school closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are now growing calls for an economic strategy for women to prevent the pandemic damaging their pay and employment prospects over the longer term. The tragic disappearance of Sarah Everard also highlights the ever-present threat of violence that blights the lives of so many women both inside<\/a> and outside<\/a> their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men and women\u2019s employment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Susan Harkness (University of Bristol) discussed the latest evidence on men and women\u2019s employment<\/a> using data from Understanding Society, <\/em>the large-scale household survey. Overall, women have not suffered more than men \u2013 similar numbers have lost their jobs and been put on furlough. But focusing on parents shows that the experiences of fathers and mothers have been strikingly different \u2013 see Figure 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mothers experienced a bigger fall in their working hours at the start of the pandemic and have seen less bounce back in the second half of 2020. Lone mothers have been even worse hit than mothers with a partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1: Changes in share working positive working hours (age>25)<\/h4>\n\n\n
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