The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women’s economic participation.
• Gender equality cannot be achieved without support from the private sector.
• A new survey shows strong worldwide belief that the private sector must lead on gender initiatives.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Economic Forum estimated that it would take almost 100 years to close the global gender gap. Today, more than a year since the emergence of COVID-19 and days before the Generation Equality Forum (GEF), hard-won gains for gender equality are at risk of rollback due to the disproportionate burden that girls and women have experienced throughout the pandemic.
In addition to concerning increases in gender-based violence and disruptions in access to sexual and reproductive health services, the pandemic’s global economic crisis is swiftly altering women’s economic participation. Before the pandemic, experts stated that narrowing the global gender gap in work made business sense, and would boost global GDP growth. A reversal of progress on gender equality is economically costly. Companies cannot afford to ignore that women’s jobs have been 1.8 times more vulnerable to this crisis than men’s jobs largely because of existing gender inequalities. All around the world, women are experiencing higher rates of unemployment due to job losses or leaving work to manage childcare.