Persistence of gender inequalities in the post-COVID-19 period

The International Labor Organization (ILO) warned on Monday that the loss of jobs and income to women during the COVID-19 pandemic will continue in the near future.

According to a new concept note published by the ILO, “13 million fewer women will be employed in 2021 than in 2019, while male employment will return to 2019 levels“.

Even though employment growth for women is forecast higher than that for men for 2021, this increase will be insufficient for women to return to employment levels comparable to pre-pandemic conditions.“, the organization noted, noting that globally only 43.2% of working-age women will get a job in 2021, compared to 68.6% of working-age men.

Building a better future: Women’s rights at work and in the workplace at the heart of COVID recovery, ILO study shows women face disproportionate loss in employment and employment. Income due to the fact that they were over-represented in the most affected sectors, for example, hotels and restaurants as well as the manufacturing sector.

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Worldwide, between 2019 and 2020, female employment declined by 4.2%, representing a decline of 54 million jobs, while male employment declined by 3%, or 60 million jobs, notes the ILO.

Not all regions were affected by the same intensity. The US region caused the most significant loss in female employment due to the pandemic (-9.4%), followed by the Arab states. The same source said that between 2019 and 2020, employment for women in this region of the world declined by 4.1% compared to 1.8% for men.

In Asia-Pacific, employment for women declined by 3.8% compared to 2.9% for men due to the shock caused by the pandemic. In Europe and Central Asia, the Covid-19 crisis has significantly reduced the employment of women compared to men, leading to a decline of 2.5% against 1.9% for men, the report suggests.

In Africa, male employment recorded the smallest decline among all regions of the world, estimated at 0.1% between 2019 and 2020, while female employment declined by 1.9%.

(with MAP)

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