Women and the young are hit hardest by economic shutdown
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/women-and-the-young-are-hit-hardest-by-economic-shutdown-due-to-coronavirus-xztz588mv
Women are the losers when life’s in lockdown
Men regain jobs and status quickest after wars and epidemics while their partners are often nudged out of the workplace
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/women-are-the-losers-when-lifes-in-lockdown-9grrkv7wd
In many ways the virus has shown working mothers performing brilliantly during this crisis. Some of the countries coping best with Covid-19 — New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Norway among them — are led by mothers, often with very young children. Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, has adult triplets. Emma Walmsley, the chief executive of Glaxosmithkline, is running the pharmaceutical giant with four children at home.
Clearly women are working highly effectively at the top of their game but when couples divide the chores in lockdown with no access to nurseries or extended family childcare, mothers often lose out. They tend to work part-time, in lower paid jobs, often in retail, hospitality, charities or teaching, or are self-employed, so their financial contributions appear to be less significant and they may be likely to be made redundant or furloughed.
In Malaysia, there was an outcry after the government told women to stop nagging their husbands during the lockdown and keep cleaning. But there seems to have been a quiet acceptance that women around the globe will still do most of the domestic heavy lifting.
In the aftermath of a succession of epidemics — Sars, swine flu, ebola in 2014, zika in 2015 — women found it harder to resume their lives than men. Julia Smith, a health policy researcher at Simon Fraser University in Canada, explained that after ebola “men’s income returned to what they had made pre-outbreak faster than women’s income”, as women reverted to caring roles. Clare Wenham, an assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics, said: “It’s not just about social norms of women performing care roles; it’s also about practicalities. Who is paid less? Who has the flexibility?”
In the 16th century, after waves of plague, women were chided by their husbands to “keep your house fair and clean”. In the 1920s, after the Great War and Spanish flu, women felt liberated; they raised their hemlines, cut their hair, and started smoking and driving. After the Second World War, it went the other way, with women feeling constrained and judged. When this pandemic ebbs, we must ensure that everyone appreciates that housework and childcare are best shared and women don’t feel pressurised into staying close to home for the next decade.