Recently released data reveals that all of the 1,40,000 jobs lost in the US in December, belonged to women. Men, on the other hand, gained about 16,000 jobs!
With the coronavirus cases rising again, for the first time since April, the US reported job losses. Maximum jobs were lost in the hospitality sector, especially in bars and restaurants, due to fresh restrictions and the weather doing nothing to ease things.
This means, the economy is not ready to make a full and fast recovery just yet. Last year, women’s participation in the US workforce had actually reached a record high.
The loss of jobs in the fields otherwise dominated by women, especially in August and September 2019, is attributed to lack of feasible childcare facilities. Over eight lakh women quit the workforce during that period last year, while only over two lakh men quit in the same period.
If this trend of women leaving the workforce continues, the Centre for American Progress and The Century Foundation predict that about $64.5 billion will be lost annually in wages and economic activity.
In India too, Women@Work 2.0 reported that the Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected women’s employment overall. Eight months after the lockdown, there were about 13 per cent fewer employed women or women job seekers than during the same time a year ago, whereas the percentage of men had lessened by only two per cent.
