Researchers from Northwestern University published a study that shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has a great impact on gender equality both during and after the downtime. They state that usually “regular” recessions affect mainly men’s employment, since male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing are often the first to slow down. However, with the social distancing measures the impact has been bigger on sectors with high female employment shares, such as service and hospitality jobs. In addition, support systems such as schools and day-cares that enable many women with young children to work have been shut down. Grandparents, friends and neighbors who might usually help out were also off-limits for the fear of contagion. Most families have no choice but to watch their kids themselves. Due to the existing distribution of childcare duties in most families, mothers are more affected than fathers. Single mothers who are often anyway in a disadvantaged economic position will take the biggest hit. Therefore, the pandemic will have a disproportionate negative effect on women and their employment opportunities. Earning losses during recessions are more persistent and more severe as well, according to a study by Stevens in 1997.The effects of the crisis on working mothers are likely to be persistent as well, due to the high returns to experience in the labor market. The consequences are limited for those who lose their jobs, but also for those who were about to enter the labor market for the first time.
However, there are some changes taking place due to the Covid-19 pandemic that may promote gender equality in the long term. First, a large part of gender inequality in the labor market is related to an unequal division of labor in the household. Even though the workforce participation of women is close to that of men in most industrialized countries, women still provide a larger share of housework and childcare. Due to the pandemic many fathers now have to take responsibility for childcare, which may change social norms that currently lead to a one-sided distribution of the labor division in the housework and childcare. Many businesses now become more aware of the childcare needs of their employees and adopt more flexible work schedules. Mothers and fathers alike gain flexibility in meeting the combined demands of having career and running a family.
There is however also a fraction of families, where fathers might pick up more of the additional childcare during the crisis. Many medical doctors and nurses are women. Also, critical businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies will continue operating during the pandemic and have a higher percentage of female labor. Women working in these areas may be married to men that will either lose employment during the crisis or will be able to work from home. In those cases, many men will inevitably turn into the main providers of childcare. Such a reallocation of duties in the household is likely to have persistent effects on gender roles.
Even though there are some channels that could ultimately have beneficial effects on gender equality, the short-run challenges posed by the crisis are severe, and especially so for single mothers and other families with a lack of ability to combine work with care for children at home.
