Women’s workplace progress in OECD countries set back to 2017 levels
Pandemic ‘shecession’ reverses gains
The coronavirus pandemic reversed women's workplace gains in many of the world's wealthiest countries as the burden of childcare rose and female-dominated sectors shed jobs, according to research released on Tuesday.
Women were more likely than men to lose their jobs in 17 of the 24 rich countries where unemployment rose in 2020, according to the latest annual PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Women in Work Index.
Meanwhile, women were spending on average 7.7 more hours a week than men on unpaid childcare, a "second shift" that is nearly the equivalent of a full-time job and risks forcing some out of paid work altogether, it found.
"Although jobs will return when economies bounce back, they will not necessarily be the same jobs," said Larice Stielow, senior economist at PwC.
"If we don't have policies in place to directly address the unequal burden of care, and to enable more women to enter jobs in growing sectors of the economy, women will return to fewer hours, lower-skilled, and lower paid jobs."
The report, which looked at 33 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development club of rich nations, said progress toward gender equality at work would not begin to recover until 2022.
Even then, the pace of progress would need to double if rich countries were to make up the losses by 2030, it said.
The report called on governments and businesses to improve access to growth sectors such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy and the green economy.
Laura Hinton, chief people officer at PwC, said it was "paramount that gender pay gap reporting is prioritized, with targeted action plans put in place as businesses focus on building back better and fairer."
Britain has required employers with more than 250 staff to submit gender pay gap figures every year since 2017 in a bid to reduce pay disparities.
However, in 2020, it suspended the requirement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Women were more likely than men to lose their jobs in 17 of the 24 rich countries where unemployment rose in 2020, according to the latest annual PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Women in Work Index.
A son paints while his mother works and attends a digital conference at home in Zehlendorf district during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic on February 18, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. Photo: VCG
Jobs in female-dominated sectors like marketing and communications were more likely to be lost than roles in finance, which are more likely to be held by men, said the report, calling the slowdown a "shecession."Meanwhile, women were spending on average 7.7 more hours a week than men on unpaid childcare, a "second shift" that is nearly the equivalent of a full-time job and risks forcing some out of paid work altogether, it found.
"Although jobs will return when economies bounce back, they will not necessarily be the same jobs," said Larice Stielow, senior economist at PwC.
"If we don't have policies in place to directly address the unequal burden of care, and to enable more women to enter jobs in growing sectors of the economy, women will return to fewer hours, lower-skilled, and lower paid jobs."
The report, which looked at 33 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development club of rich nations, said progress toward gender equality at work would not begin to recover until 2022.
Even then, the pace of progress would need to double if rich countries were to make up the losses by 2030, it said.
The report called on governments and businesses to improve access to growth sectors such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy and the green economy.
Laura Hinton, chief people officer at PwC, said it was "paramount that gender pay gap reporting is prioritized, with targeted action plans put in place as businesses focus on building back better and fairer."
Britain has required employers with more than 250 staff to submit gender pay gap figures every year since 2017 in a bid to reduce pay disparities.
However, in 2020, it suspended the requirement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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