A GENDER EQUALITY ANALYSIS OF THE ECONOMY DURING COVID-19

Author:Author Abbie Bauckham
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A gender equality analysis of the economy during Covid-19 written by Maria Vittoria Morandi

“The pandemic may have paused our progress, but we must now grasp the opportunities we have to build back better and fairer for women and girls around the world… We must ensure that women are represented in the recovery from the pandemic, that their voices are heard and that we support women to become leaders and decision makers – now and in the future.”

By the UK National Statement at the 65th Commission on the Status of Women by Baroness Berridge

Every year, on March 8th, we celebrate International Women’s Day to commend the economic, social, and cultural achievements of women and demand for gender parity. This year the fight for gender equality was marked by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Evolving at an unparalleled pace, the pandemic triggered a “double crisis” affecting both public health and the economy. Although the Government took extensive measures to shield and support the population from the negative effects of lockdown, we quickly became aware of the disproportionate economic impact on individuals and groups who may already suffer financial and social disadvantages.

 

On 11 March, Baroness Berridge, Minister for Women, moved a debate on “the United Kingdom’s role in empowering women in recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.” During such debate, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington noted the “disproportionately difficult time” for women during the pandemic, as “many of the household burdens have fallen more heavily on their shoulders, and more of them have lost jobs and taken on additional caring duties.”

 

Looking at different areas of contention, we will explore the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women in the UK and consider how the current furlough scheme affects the long-standing battle for gender parity.

A pencil on a lever with a male and female on either end.

The job market

There has been a substantial recovery in economic activity levels for both men and women since the peak of the last economic crisis, circa 2011. In fact, pre-pandemic trends show an increase of women in paid employment, standing at a record high, with 71.8% in the job market in the UK (80.3% of men) (House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, 2021).

 

For this seems like an impressive achievement, the Women’s Budget Group evidenced how the employment data by gender masks a considerable disparity in the rates of participation by ethnicity and disability (Johnston, 2021). Upon closer inspection, gender differences are visible within different sectors, occupations, wages, working hours and employment security. The Women and Equalities Committee identified the following factors;

 

  • The gender pay gap still stands at 17.3%
  • Women are more likely to work part-time compared to men. They make up the majority of the involuntary part-time employment (58%) (Note: Involuntary part-time employment refers to employees who seek full-time employment but are unable to find it, or their full-time working hours have been cut.)
  • In 2018, women were the majority of those on zero-hour contracts (55%) and temporary contracts (53%)
  • Female employees are more likely to work jobs that pay the National Minimum Wage compared to male employees
  • Low paid women are more likely to remain stuck in low paid jobs compared to their male counterparts

 

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

The labour market was profoundly hit by the first national lockdown which prompted the Government to swiftly implement a policy response comprised of two key pillars: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). The CJRS, often referred to as the furlough scheme, was announced on 20 March 2020 to provide grants to employers as a way to retain and continue to pay employees amidst businesses being closed. Employers can furlough workers for a minimum of 3 weeks with the Government contributing to 80% of the employees’ salaries, up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

 

Sector Shutdown

More women than men have been furloughed across the UK, particularly girls under the age of 18 with a rate of 33% (24% for young men) (Johnston, 2021). This is not surprising as the worst affected sectors from the repeated lockdowns (i.e., closure of non-essential businesses) have a higher concentrated number of female employees. For instance, women make up 58% of the retail employees, and by the end of January 2021, it was estimated that 935,000 employees in such sector have been furloughed[3]. Women also comprise the majority of employees in the accommodation and food sectors – the sectors that possess the highest rate of furloughed employees at 1.15 million as per January 2021 (Johnston, 2021).

 

The support set in place by the Government is due to end in September 2021. The Resolution Foundation estimated that, once this protection is removed, there will be a surge of people unemployed, estimated to be around 900,000 people in 2021-2022 (Johnston, 2021). As women predominately occupy the hardest hit sectors (retail, food and accommodation), it is likely that they will be more vulnerable to redundancy once the employment protections are lifted.

 

It is notable that the pre-pandemic contraction of the retail sector has only intensified during various periods of lockdown with people increasingly relying on online shopping. Female employees have shop-front jobs counting for 14% of all jobs held by women, therefore, this is another shift that will disproportionately affect women. The detriment to women could be mitigated by employers seeking to raise the number of women in warehouse and distribution roles which are roles usually dominated by men.

Ying and Yang sign with the women above the man

Familial Considerations

Note: The following analysis focuses mainly on cis-gender heterosexual couples.

Pregnancy and maternity are now amongst the “protected characteristics” under section 4 of the Equality Act 2010. Who falls under this category can receive protection against discrimination from a variety of legislative instruments, including (but not limited to):

 

  • Employment Rights Act 1996
  • Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999
  • Pregnant Workers Directive
  • Equal Treatment Directive

Nonetheless, in 2016, the Women and Equalities Committee concluded that “pregnant women and mothers report more discrimination and poor treatment at work now than they did a decade ago” (House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, 2021). The Equality and Human Rights Commission found that 77% of working mothers had had a negative or potentially discriminatory experience while;

 

  • 11% felt they were forced to leave their job
  • 70% of employers believe women should declare their pregnancy during recruitment
  • 25% of recruiters think it is reasonable to ask women about their plans to have children
  • 27% of women deem maternity as an unreasonable cost burden (House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, 2021)

 

While there is no identifiable progress made by the Government to prevent or mitigate this continuing discrimination, the pandemic revealed the unstable position in the job market of pregnant women and emphasised existing gender roles and inadvertently affected women’s working hours.

Two sets of doors, the women's has locks and barriers, the man's is open and free of barriers

 

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination

Pregnant Then Screwed registered high levels of anxiety amongst pregnant women during the initial weeks of lockdown perpetrated by the likelihood of being made redundant. Such concern is not unreasonable as 1 in 4 women, pregnant or on maternity leave, experienced being singled out for furlough or redundancy. Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, reported that since the beginning of the pandemic around d 32,000 women received free legal advice in regard to a discrimination at work while in a normal year, the calls average around 3,000 (Saner, 2021).

 

Currently, women are entitled under legislation to a slightly more favourable treatment if they are made redundant whilst on maternity leave. Namely, where it is not practical, due to redundancy, for an employer to employ a woman under her existing contract, she should be offered suitable alternative vacancies ahead of other colleagues (Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999). Whilst this protection is in place, employers often choose to wait until the employee returns to work to make them redundant. As part of the Employment Bill, the Government extended the protection from redundancy up to 6 months after the end of the maternity leave. While this bill was announced in December 2019, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee recommended for it to be published by June 2021 at the latest, as to ensure the job market is accessible for new mothers (Traczyk, 2021).

 

Lastly, the ECHR became particularly concerned with the incorrect application of furlough by employers. In the United Kingdom, pregnant women had been incorrectly placed on sick leave as a result of the Government’s initial confusing message that all pregnant women were required to shield for 12 weeks (House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, 2021). However, employees could not be furloughed until any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) period had ended, leaving pregnant employees that were incorrectly placed on SSP for 12 weeks ineligible for furlough for that period.

 

The “carer penalty”

Notably, the pandemic has caused great disruption to care responsibilities. Employees with at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment have the statutory right to request flexible working– a change in working patterns such as hours, time or place of work to better fit in with the demands of caring. Due to the new circumstances shaped by the pandemic, many parents have utilised flexible working arrangements such as reduced hours, compressed hours or part-time working to balance work and caring responsibilities.

 

The ONS evidences a significant increase in homeworking for women. Despite more men working from home before the pandemic, now women hold the slight majority (48% compared to 46% for men) (Chung et al, 2021). Chung et al. further evidenced how women “carried out “more” or “all” of most household” tasks and with the closure of schools and nurseries, the childcare support that allowed women to thrive within the job market was removed.

Three people, a man in the middle being watered by the two females.

In fact, working mothers “were far more likely than other groups to have lost their job permanently” instead of being furloughed (Andrew, 2020). This is primarily due to the closure of the aforementioned sectors which have a high density of female employees. However, the near-total loss of access to schools left an additional burden on mothers who were already the primary child and home carer. As many women are also the lower income earner, it is was evidenced that the additional responsibilities drove some female employees to leave their job.

 

Conclusion

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented instability in the job market and the UK was not prepared to respond to it while protecting women most at risk. The estimated growth in redundancies, primarily in the worst impacted sectors, and the dual pressure of caring responsibilities and working, are all contributing factors to the challenges faced by female employees during this time. The challenge for the Government will be considering new policies that can embed measures to promote and facilitate gender equality, rather than adopting more rushed and poorly concluded schemes.

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