New Eurobarometer survey highlights severe impact of the pandemic on women

For International Women’s Day on 8 March, the European Parliament commissioned a dedicated survey among European women assessing the impact of the pandemic on various aspects of women’s lives. The survey results show the significant impact of the pandemic at both personal and professional levels, including a severe increase in the levels of violence against women.

As many as 77 percent of women in the EU think that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in physical and emotional violence against women in their own country, ranging from 93 percent in Greece to 47 percent in Hungary.

Four in ten respondents (38 percent) say the pandemic has also harmed women’s income, as well as on their work-life balance (44 percent), and on the amount of time they allocate to paid work (21 percent).

Women’s mental health has been significantly affected by pandemic restrictions, such as lockdowns and curfew measures (41 percent at the EU level) and limitations on the number of people they could meet (38 percent).

“Women have been hit the hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic. They have been hit mentally and financially. This must stop. The European Parliament is acting to change this,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said.

(WBJ)