Women and labour market equality: Has COVID-19 rolled back recent gains?

A new report recently published by Eurofound investigates the evolution of gender disparities in the labour market over the last two decades, up to the COVID-19 outbreak. During this difficult period, Early Childhood Ireland has been monitoring research like this to understand the long-lasting impact of the pandemic on children and parents. Our aim is to keep members informed, supporting them to navigate the uncertainties of this time.

Eurofound’s report includes an updated analysis of the cost of the gender employment gap. Then, it focuses on the unequal impact that the COVID-19 crisis is having on women in the labour market, by reviewing existing evidence and providing new findings from Eurofound’s living, working and COVID-19 e-survey.

Results show that at EU level, after many years of growth the female employment rate reached a peak of 67.2% in 2019. The employment rate is defined as the percentage of employed persons in relation to the comparable total population. However, the gender employment gap – the difference in the employment rates of women and men – has stagnated at just under 12 percentage points since 2014. The gender employment gap cost Europe more than €320 billion in 2018. This sum combines the extra earnings in the economy, the rise in welfare contributions and the savings in public finances that would arise if the employment rate of women was the same as that of men. Gender inequality in the labour market is also reflected in the jobs women do. EU data shows that more than 85% of cleaners and helpers, early childhood teachers, care workers and nurses are women, and two-thirds of secretaries and retail salespeople are women. Around a quarter of all female employment is concentrated in these six occupations, many of which are low-paying, which has a strong impact on women’s economic security.

Because of this gender segregation in the labour market, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected women. The sectors that have been most affected by social distancing and restrictive measures are those that involve ‘interactive service work’, with a physical interaction between workers and clients – tourism, retail, hospitality and aviation – and women account for 61% of workers doing this type of work. As a result, women were most likely to lose their job in the wake of the pandemic – especially young women. Moreover, women were more likely to drop out of the labour market after losing their jobs, because they bore a larger share of care responsibilities within the household. The concentration of activity in the home during the lockdowns across Europe led to a general deterioration of work-life balance, but especially for women. For instance, family responsibilities prevented more women (24%) than men (13%) from giving the time they wanted to their job.

Amongst the policy recommendations of the report, there are the promotion of flexible work agreements, improving childcare supports and providing financial aid for hard-hit families.

Early Childhood Ireland uses evidence like this to highlight potential future implications for the sector and to devise the policy strategies that will be necessary to address them. We are at a crossroads, as the decisions taken now will deeply affect the development of the sector. Our advocacy work turns this evidence into action, in order to lead the sector into the most sustainable path.