In 2020, the COVID-19 virus transformed everything creating a pandemic across the entire globe. The economy, education, healthcare, and virtually everything we know changed dramatically because of the coronavirus. Suffering has been widespread. However, communities of color and women have been particularly hard hit from both a health and economic perspective.
Read AIM’s Blog ” Women Mean Business” which covers the statistics and provides an action plan that businesses can use to mitigate the “She-cession”.
Women Mean Business12 Million
Women in the U.S. lost job during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
2.5 Million
Women dropped out of the workforce completely due to issues presented by the pandemic
57%
Reflects participation of women in the labor force, the lowest percentage since 1998.
Infographic in Full View
GET THE FACTS
The Impact of COVID-19 on Women in the Workforce in the Commonwealth
In case we missed you, you can find the event's discussions here.
Recommendations on Policy Changes
1. Commit to providing pay increases for women and other caregivers who have been on leave or working limited hours equal to those employees who have been able to continue to work full-time.
2. Extend, the time workers can be on leave to coincide with the duration of the pandemic.
3. Give hiring preference to former workers required to leave the workplace due to family demands.
4. Extend the time that returning workers can bridge tenure for benefits and other considerations to coincide with the full duration of the pandemic.
5. Listen to individual employees about their specific needs and expectations and not make assumptions about what each woman or caregiver can or cannot do.
6. Institute practices that reduce conflict with remote schooling such as not holding meetings before 9 am or at lunch when children need assistance.
7. Supporting job applicants who may have a gap in their resumes due to raising children; allowing applicants to explain other skills they may have obtained such as time management, focus, and resilience.
8. Providing child-care vouchers to assist with the cost of regular or emergency childcare.
9. Considering on-site childcare even if provided through a group of companies in close proximity, allowing parents to visit children at breaks and not have to end work early to reach a childcare site before closing.
10. Allowing flex-time schedules (7-3, 8-4, 9-5, or 10-6, for example) under which an employee may choose to work within their caregiving demands.
11. Providing female-led and minority-led mentorship programs to support and promote the advancement of underrepresented groups in the workplace.
12. Supplementing home-office costs such as Internet service to level the playing field so employees might be successful in a remote environment.