Pandemic hits women harder than men

Women are more likely than men to lose their jobs and are more concerned about their future in the labor market. They are also more likely to be affected by wage cuts. During the pandemic, combining professional work with household duties also turned out to be a big problem for women, because they were largely responsible for the tasks related to supporting children in learning, caring for preschool children, and organizing family life. On average, every fourth woman made it impossible to devote time to work, according to the PARP report.

The Pracuj.pl survey conducted on the occasion of International Women's Day shows that the professional situation of women in Poland is better today than it was 10 years ago. This opinion is shared by 61 percent of the respondents, but still, women more often than men believe that they have worse career chances. The pandemic can also influence this perception.

“The pandemic will definitely affect the situation of women in the labor market. We still have to wait for the full data, but the direction of these changes is already visible today. The December PARP report confirms that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are unfortunately more felt for women than for men. The first reason is that women work more often in sectors such as tourism, beauty, gastronomy, or events, which have suffered the most as a result of measures restricting the operation of enterprises,” Dr. Małgorzata Kluska-Nowicka, vice-chancellor of the WSB University in Poznań, said.

A study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) quoted in the December edition of the PARP report shows that in these sectors women constitute 61 percent of the total employee population. Experts also point out that young women were more likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic (11 percent vs. 9 percent of young men). It also means a greater risk of permanent exclusion from the labor market.

(Newseria)