Unmasking Gender Disparities: COVID-19's Impact on Women's Work
Question
Task: How did the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbate existing gender inequalities in the workforce, affecting women's employment and domestic responsibilities? How have societies and workplaces adapted to these challenges?
Answer
Reading #1
1. Summary of main points
This reading discusses how Covid-19 affected gender equality in service. The pandemic affected both men and women in the labor market(Titan, Doepke and Olmstead-Rumsey). Due to the lockdown, women lost their jobs and had to undertake childcare and family responsibilities. Sometimes men face the heat of recession much more than women. Those who are not in telecommuting or critical occupation lost their job. But the adaptable provisions of work and transformation in society help both men and women to retain their services.
2. Learnings from the reading
Titan, Doepke, and Olmstead-Rumsey showedduring COVID, people were not only affected socially and physically but also economically. Women were much more affected than men as they faced domestic violence. They had to take responsibility for their children and family. Later, the social norms changed and they got flexible working time to pursue their career. Many organizations adopted work-from-home and telecommuting facilities that help both men and women to manage their family and professional lives.
3. Agreement with the author
In this reading the concept of the author is true. In our society, women have to work hard than men. They have to manage both the family life and the professional life. In a pandemic situation, they have to manage their children and other responsibilities besides their profession. According to the author, women lost their job more in the coronavirus situation than in past recessions(Titan, Doepke and Olmstead-Rumsey). Duringthe pandemic situation, women faced hard times both in their personal and professional lives.
4. Disagreement with the author
At the end of this reading;Titan, Doepke, and Olmstead-Rumsey said about the precautions taken by the government in the pandemic situation. But when the pandemic starts people had to face many obstacles in their lives. The lockdown situation raised violence at home and women suffered. Likewise, men also sufferedduring the recession. The economic condition was broken down. If the government could have taken those measures earlier, then it might be of certain help to them.
5. Perspective about the reading
This reading shows that in the coronavirus situation men and women are suffering from different crises. Women are affected by their family responsibilities and lost their jobs. Besides men are suffering from health issues and recession(Titan, Doepke and Olmstead-Rumsey). So, from this perspective, the pandemic situation led to an upside down in the lives of common people.
Reading #2
1. Summary of main points
Kabeer, Razavi, and Rodgers rightly pointed out the gendered dimensions during the recent pandemic times. Besides taking a toll on precious human lives, it has paralyzed them economically also as many people lost their livelihoods. Women were hit hard by COVID-19 as the pandemic hurt specified segments dominated by them. Indeed, it is a fact that though the infection and mortality rates were higher among men, women lost their employment due to the lockdown implemented to prevent the disease.
2. Learnings from the reading
The article shows the disparity in the employment status of men and women during the pandemic. It shows that the relevance of stay-at-home orders has increased during the pandemic for women.Their global significance has increased due to the growing demand for primary healthcare at home. Kabeer, Razavi, and Rodgers have provided a definite perspective of feminist economics to counter the challenges posed by the pandemic.
3. Agreement with the author
The authors are appropriate in their version that COVID-19 has robbed women of their professional lives and pushed them back to their domestic confinement(Kabeer, Razavi and Rodgers). It is true that since COVID, they have been busy with their domestic responsibilities. Thus, women had to accept their lives in a new avatar as COVID-19 has brought a fundamental challenge to the traditional perspective of life.
4. Disagreement with the author
Feminist economics may be a little biased toward women placing that they are denied every plausible opportunity to grow. But this sort of generalization may not apply to everyone as many women have resumed their work either from home or the office. The hybrid model has been a benefactor in letting both men and women strike a uniform balance in their professional and personal lives.
5. Perspective about the reading
The writing by Kabeer, Razavi, and Rodgers offers a new perspective on life in pre and post-pandemic times. It provided the income inequalities that women are facing in the post-pandemic era as they were more vulnerable to employment losses vis-à-vis their male counterparts. Thus, it calls for effective strategies and policies to place women back into their employment mode to save them from economic severity and the government should act appropriately in this regard.
Bibliography
Kabeer, Naila., S. Razavi and Y Rodgers. "“Feminist Economic Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic”." Feminist Economics 27.1/2 (2021): 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2021.1876906.
Titan, A., et al. "“The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Gender Equality”." Covid Economics: Vetted and Real-Time Papers 4 (2020): 1-6. https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/impact-coronavirus-pandemic-gender-equality.
