Women continue to fall out of workforce amid pandemic

Women will continue to fall out of the workforce as the pandemic continues to drag on, and businesses and schools remain closed, warns the US’ Institute for Women’s Research Policy (IWPR).

The latest unemployment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal an abysmal end to last year for working women, who lost a far greater proportion of jobs than men. Women ended 2020 with 5.4 million fewer jobs, with Latina and Black women suffering the most job losses, than back in February before the pandemic began. Men lost around 4.4 million jobs over the same time period.

According to the data released on Friday, US employers cut 140,000 jobs in December, and women accounted for all those job losses. IWPR attributes most of last month’s job losses to a dramatic decline in leisure and hospitality jobs on payroll, where women lost 282,000 jobs compared to 216,000 for men; as well as the decline in the government sector, where women comprise more than 90% of job losses.

LATINAS & BLACK WOMEN SUFFER MOST JOB LOSSES

Additionally, Latinas and Black women have suffered the most job losses during the pandemic. Among women, Latinas now have the highest unemployment rate at 9.1% – an 11% increase since November. They are closely followed by Black women at 8.4%. White women currently have the lowest unemployment rate at 5.7%, according to the statistics.

IWPR’s President and CEO C. Nicole Mason believes the pandemic is also affecting women’s ability to reenter the workforce and sustain jobs. In fact, she believes that “as the pandemic continues to drag on and businesses and schools remain closed, women will continue to fall out of the workforce”. 

Her advice to the new administration is to ensure that the economic recovery package centres “on those most impacted – women, and include opportunities for education and training, and contain economic and child care support”. 

Years of progress towards gender equality could be wiped out this year as 1 in 4 women consider leaving the workforce – or downshifting careers –  due to Covid-19, according to the latest findings. Click here to read more.