TAMPA, Fla — COVID-19 has impacted so many of us, from the way we interact to the way our kids go to school and to the way we work. Unfortunately, this pandemic has hurt working women the hardest.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, 1.8 million men left the workforce in 2020. For women, the number was 2.5 million.
In September alone 865,000 women left the workforce, four times the number of men.
Women are often expected to fill caregiving roles for elderly parents and children, on top of working a job outside of the home.
"It's hard. It's really hard," said Julie Tingley, a mom of two and the Market Manager for KNOW Women. She's been balancing pandemic parenting and working remotely, counseling other women on how to feel empowered in the workplace.
"The world wants you to mother, to parent like you don't have a job and they want you to work at your job as if you don't have children. I have the same responsibility, but now I also have to be a teacher and a full-time caregiver on top of that," Tingley explained. Many mothers have been feeling the same pressure.
Women across the globe are leaving work because options for childcare have become limited during the pandemic. They either can't afford it or restrictions in place have limited capacity or options for childcare providers. Many school-aged children require extensive supervision and help with their remote learning.
Jobs that women often hold, in the retail and service industries, have been the most impacted by the virus. Restaurants are cutting staff because of reduced capacity and retail jobs are shifting as online shopping continues to grow. This is an issue because many women already work lower-paying jobs than their male counterparts.
Nearly half of all working women, 46 percent or 28 million, worked in jobs paying low wages, with median earnings of only $10.93 per hour. That's hardly enough to pay for living expenses and childcare.
One thing that Tingley has found helpful in emotionally working through this pandemic is searching for support, "I found that I needed support from other mothers who understood. That band of mothers that got it, that we're all wading through these murky waters together, that's where I felt more connected."
We have some tips on how to find work during a pandemic at this link here.
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