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Concerns 50 years of progress could be put into reverse unless government intervenes<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Guardian<\/a> writes: The coronavirus pandemic is having a devastating effect on gender equality and could set women back decades, experts have said on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a week during which it was revealed that women are bearing the brunt of extra childcare and housework and are losing jobs in greater numbers than men, campaigners, politicians and work experts said a dearth of female voices at the heart of government also risks putting 50 years of progress into reverse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIn my view women\u2019s workplace equality will have been set back decades by this crisis unless government intervenes to avert it,\u201d said Sam Smethers, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at the prospect of a two-tier workplace where men go back and women stay home. It\u2019s taken us 20 years to get this far on female participation in the workforce, but it could take only months to unravel.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Experts spoke to the Guardian about the long-term consequences the pandemic could have in a range of key areas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Work<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Institute for Fiscal Studies and the UCL Institute of Education found this week that mothers were 47% more likely to have permanently lost their job or quit<\/a>, and 14% were more likely to have been furloughed since the start of the crisis. Two sectors expected to be hardest hit in a post-Covid world are hospitality and retail, both of which employ significant numbers of female workers.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen started this crisis from a position of economic disadvantage,\u201d said Dr Sara Reis, the head of research and policy at the UK Women\u2019s Budget Group<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re worried the impact on women\u2019s earnings and employment prospects will widen existing gender inequalities, not least the gender wage gap.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A shift to flexible work patterns could create a more equal playing field for some working parents, said Smethers. \u201cThere\u2019s no going back, the genie is out of the bottle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But with data from the Resolution Foundation<\/a> showing that only one in 10 lower earners are able to work from home, and 69% of low earners are women, it is not a panacea, said the TUC general secretary, Frances O\u2019Grady. \u201cWorking women have led the fight against coronavirus, but millions of them are stuck in low paid and insecure jobs,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need a reckoning on how we value and reward women\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gender pay gap<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The coronavirus crisis led the government to exempt companies from having to file gender pay gap data this year, and as a result only half did, according to Business in the Community<\/a><\/u>. \u201cIt is hugely disappointing to see so many opted out when the legal requirement was lifted, and a worrying sign of attitudes towards gender equality during the crisis,\u201d said Charlotte Woodworth, a gender equality campaign director.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Analysis of those that did produce data suggests it will take almost 200 years to close the gap, says Dr Wanda Wyporska, the executive director of the Equality Trust<\/a><\/u>. \u201cUndoubtedly women are bearing the brunt of this, as they did in austerity when 86% of cuts fell on women<\/a><\/u>,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a cumulative effect which consistently pushes progress back.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maternity discrimination<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some pregnant healthcare workers <\/a>say the have been pushed into working<\/a><\/u> during the crisis, while others have complained of being laid off<\/a><\/u>. Joeli Brearley, the founder of Pregnant Then Screwed<\/a><\/u>, is fearful of a rise in discrimination, as a result of which 54,000 women a year already lose their jobs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIn times of crisis, employers tend to revert to conventional ways of working. Pregnancy is considered a burden, while mothers are seen as distracted and less committed,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are seeing a blatant erosion of employment rights for pregnant women during this crisis, and it\u2019s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Childcare<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Experts also predict a childcare crisis, and the Fawcett Society estimates that 150,000 providers could go out of business.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Given that 97% of the childcare workforce are female, it risks being a double hit, said Neil Leitch, the chief executive of the Early Years Alliance<\/a><\/u>. \u201cThe early years sector was already operating on a hand to mouth basis after years of inadequate government funding,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fear is that many providers will close their doors permanently.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to new research from the Office for National Statistics, men are doing more than an hour less unpaid labour than women<\/a><\/u> each day, but they are increasing their responsibilities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That could be transformative, says Suzy Levy, the managing director of The Red Plate<\/a><\/u> consultancy. \u201cFor men working form home for the first time, Covid-19 has given them a taste of what life could be like,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are actually seeing their children and they are understanding the loss of what they had before.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Violence against women and girls<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reports suggest that lockdowns across the globe have resulted in a huge increase in <\/a>violence against women<\/a><\/u>. Refuge<\/a><\/u>, which runs the national domestic abuse helpline in the UK, has had a 10-fold increase<\/a><\/u> in visits to its website in the past two weeks, and two-thirds of survivors responding to a Women\u2019s Aid survey<\/a><\/u> in April said violence had escalated under lockdown.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In response, the government announced \u00a367m to support vulnerable people<\/a><\/u>, including \u00a327m in emergency funding for domestic abuse services. \u201cIt\u2019s really welcome and will make a real difference, but it\u2019s not the amount we need,\u201d said Lucy Hadley, the policy lead at Women\u2019s Aid<\/a><\/u>, which estimates the sector requires \u00a3393m a year in England alone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The focus on domestic violence could have positive repercussions, said Sarah Green, the director of the End Violence Against Women<\/a><\/u> coalition. \u201cIf it leads to greater understanding that we all have a responsibility for each other that would be a powerful legacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n At this week\u2019s liaison committee grilling of Boris Johnson, Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee<\/a><\/u>, asked the prime minister what the gender balance should be in the key team tackling the crisis. \u201cThat is a question on which I\u2019m not competent enough to pronounce,\u201d he replied. Nokes suggested the figure should be 50%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI do have grave concerns that we are just not hearing women\u2019s voices at the top of government,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are in such a critical moment, and while men are dying in greater numbers, it risks being women who are more negatively impacted possibly for a very long time to come.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But the future, says Helen Pankhurst, the convener of the women\u2019s rights coalition Centenary Action Group<\/a><\/u>, and great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, is yet to be written. \u201cSometimes these massive shifts can be really positive,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a very real danger we will go backwards, but with enough voice and collective demands there could be a resetting and recalibration. Hope is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n