Furloughing of carers - mixed blessing

[Taswama]

So employees can now be furloughed due to their caring responsibilities. On the one hand I think this is great and acknowledges that looking after 3 kids under 5 for example is a job in itself. However I’m worried that it will be mostly women doing this and if the company decides redundancies are needed at some point in the future, they will be in the firing line rather than the (mostly) men who have been working throughout.
Thoughts?

Agree it is a double edged sword and probably will put more women at risk of redundancy. Women with shirking partners should point this out = do they really want to be down to one income? I know some men do (for control purposes) but most men are not looking for a significant drop in family income - especially when few jobs are secure right now. I would only ask to be furloughed for caring responsibilities if I was a single parent or had very young children and really couldnt juggle it all.

It will impact. They are the majority of paid and unpaid carers. They are also overrrepresented in retail and many lost their jobs in the years since 2008 and many won’t have one to go back to.

I often compare it to the miners strike. Heavily unionised male workforce had the whole left wing fighting and is still a huge part of left wing mythology - never ever kicked up the same fuss for underpaid women who have lost their jobs. Admittedly tend not to be unionised.

I’m not sure everyone will think of the long term consequences.
I agree lack of union representation is a big issue as someone should be saying how will we ensure this doesn’t lead to unfair treatment in the future.
Also some employers are being understanding at the moment as there has been no alternative. But will they start expecting more of their staff if they / their spouses aren’t furloughed as they are obviously ‘coping’?

When I saw this part of me wondered whether men who have previously managed to somehow not do much childcare wouldn't put themselves forward to their employer as being the main carer! (Joke)

As I understand it from Women's Budget Group this is actually positive because being "furloughed" is more likely to mean your job is there to go back to as the employer is being subsidised by the Government to keep that post open.

twitter.com/WomensBudgetGrp/status/1247532160245874692

I know it’s been hard fought for by various feminist organisations such as the Women’s Equality Party.