An Economy Post- COVID-19 Will Hurt Women Most

Across the United States, metroplexes and counties are under stay at home orders or “quarantine” as everyone likes to call it. We are at home. Sitting for days, keeping ourselves busy, cooking, and trying to stay active the best we can.

Employers have moved a lot of their employees to work virtually. Now working remotely and having all meetings become conference calls on Zoom, the habits of the American workforce have changed drastically. Unfortunately, for over 3 million Americans, they are now unemployed, laid off, or have received a decrease in hours. Many workers who are now unemployed are women. 14.5 % of the newly unemployed are women.

Pink collar jobs were once considered to be clerical, teaching, and house servicing careers. In 2020, women are dominant in the field of nursing, teaching, leisure and hospitality, and other services; including retail, beauty services, restaurant, etc. These are the roles that companies have been eager to cut. As leadership in corporate and blue-collar manufacturing jobs are dominated by men, the majority of individuals who will be without work are women.

Women have also entered entrepreneurship two times fold in the past five years through small business ownership. Specifically, African American women have been the largest growing number of entrepreneurs and small business owners since 2015. Small businesses have been forced to closed their doors, decrease their staff, and drive to delivery only for those who are in the restaurant industry. The already dwindling brick and mortar retail industry has a workforce that is overwhelmingly woman dominated and has to close locations in malls and shopping plazas. Employees have been let go so the rent for these locations can be paid. Over 10 million individuals have applied for unemployment as of April 2, 2020. Most of these individuals work in sectors that are not “essential”. Companies are cutting costs by cutting hours and staff.

Those who are not working from home are in direct contact with the general population. The overwhelming number of individuals who work in hospitals are nurses, technicians, reception staff, and cleaning staff are women. An overwhelming number of grocery store cashiers are women. Even those who have turned to gig work to keep themselves afloat are proportionally women and mothers. They face the public every day with or without protection. They face the public with an invisible enemy that may attack them any day. If these women did not go to work, this country would not have a fighting chance or soldiers in this viral battle we are fighting.

If small businesses are not relieved and entrepreneurs are not supported, cities will be destitute and important skills will go to waste.

These women are supporting pillars in their households. If lives are lost due to their fight, these families will lose mothers, sisters, and aunts. They must be protected.