Employment & Poverty

Economic fallout hits women hard

Women are being hit hard by the fallout of the pandemic. Because
they typically earn less, have fewer savings and hold less secure jobs
to begin with, women are particularly susceptible to economic
shocks in general. The pandemic has devastated feminized sectors
like hospitality, tourism and retail, depriving many women of their
livelihoods. Across all regions, women have been more likely to drop
out of the labour force during the pandemic. The majority of
employed women (58%) work in the informal sector, with few to no
worker protections like paid sick leave and unemployment. For
women in frontline jobs, such as healthcare providers and domestic
workers, the pandemic has forced them to choose between economic
security and their health.

What can governments do?

 Target support to feminized sectors and occupations such as
hospitality, tourism and retail.
  Cover micro- and small businesses in government bailouts, where
women entrepreneurs tend to be overrepresented.
 Provide cash transfers to women. Target individuals rather than
households to diminish women’s economic dependence on men.
 Support girls’ education. Develop accessible tools for distance learning,
including the use of national television, and ensure girls return to school
as they reopen.
 Promote women’s access to male-dominated industries. Provide
training opportunities for women, design and implement policies to
make workplaces more women-friendly, and make fiscal support for
male-dominated industries conditional on women’s representation.

What is UN Women doing?

 Providing sex-disaggregated data and policy recommendations to help
governments identify and target women’s economic needs.
 Supporting women owned enterprises across all regions, including:
o Engaging women-led businesses in relief efforts
in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Moldova;
o Providing grants and trainings to women business owners
in Tanzania and essential support to women-led businesses
in Lebanon, Liberia and China;
o Supporting women-led cooperatives in Morocco and Sudan and
women entrepreneurs in the Europe and Central Asia region.
 Providing economic relief through cash transfers and cash-for-work
and job placement programmes, including:
 o In partnership with the World Food Programme, providing cash
transfers and multi-purpose cash assistance to women in Palestine;
o Providing cash grants to vulnerable women in Viet
Nam and Myanmar;
o Implementing a cash-for-work programme, as well as cash and
voucher assistance, in Indonesia.
 Providing resources to help women build economic independence,
including:
o Supporting economic empowerment projects
in Yemen, Mozambique, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Jordan and
Palestine and across Europe;
o Expanding women’s employment and entrepreneurship
opportunities in the health, hygiene and sanitation sectors in India;
o Offering training in professional and vocational skills
in Lebanon, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Nepal;
o Funding and administering the Second Chance Education and
Vocational Learning Programme in Mexico and India.