Report finds 1 in every 20 women lost their jobs during the pandemic

A report released by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation finds that the global pandemic has brought severe implications on the lives of women. According to the report, in 2020, one in every 20 women across the globe lost their jobs. That makes 64 million women in total who have been left without a chance to provide for their families and contribute to their local economies. 

The report also sheds a light on a global pattern in which more women have lost their jobs compared to men in nearly every country. 

That, the report says, is partly due to the fact that 40 percent of employed women work in sectors like retail, manufacturing and business sectors that have been devastated by the pandemic. 

Women have also faced challenges at home. As educational institutions closed globally, the amount of time women spend with caregiving significantly increased. 

The report says women are spending five more hours per week on child care than they did before the pandemic. That means 31 hours of the week spent by women on childcare during 2020. 

The research claims that national economies shrink when women are left out, highlighting that existing gender gaps in OECD countries are costing economies 15 percent of their GDP. 

A separate report published by the World Economic Forum found that the pandemic pushed back gender parity by a generation. The Global Gender Gap Report 2021 found that the overall global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years.

The impact of the pandemic on the gender gap has been witnessed in various sectors. The report says the pandemic has widened the political gender gap as it is expected to take 145.5 years to close, compared to 95 years in 2020 with an increase of over 50 percent.

On its current trajectory, the report says the economic gender gap is expected to take another 267.6 years to close. 

The research by the Gates Foundation offers various ways to tackle the growing gender gap including encouraging the use of digital tools by women working in informal sectors to make them more invisible in informal sectors.