Gender and Safety Nets : Priorities for Building Back Better
Achieving gender equality and economic inclusion is critical for economic growth and prosperity. The pandemic threatens to reverse hard-won gains towards gender equality. Before the crisis, women were more likely than men to be engaged in vulnerabl...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/959251624881022612/Gender-and-Safety-Nets-Priorities-for-Building-Back-Better http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35871 |
| Summary: | Achieving gender equality and economic
inclusion is critical for economic growth and prosperity.
The pandemic threatens to reverse hard-won gains towards
gender equality. Before the crisis, women were more likely
than men to be engaged in vulnerable forms of work in low-
and middle-income countries, were overrepresented in sectors
with the largest economic disruptions, and carried the brunt
of increased care work. During the crisis, their income
opportunities have taken a big hit. In Ethiopia, for
example, women respondents to a phone survey conducted
during the early stages of the pandemic were found to be
more likely than men respondents to have lost their jobs (15
percent versus 12 percent) (Ambel et al. 2020). In Latin
America, women workers were 44 percent more likely than men
workers to lose their jobs at the onset of the COVID-19
crisis. Woman-led microbusinesses, in the hospitality
industry, and in countries more severely affected by the
COVID-19 shock was disproportionately affected compared with
corresponding businesses led by men (Torres et al. 2021).
Women and older girls also bear a disproportionate share of
the care responsibilities arising because of school closures
among family members affected by COVID-19. Reports of
gender-based violence have increased around the world. |
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