Women Faced Greater Economic Hurt and Job Losses During COVID-19

New Accountable.US Report Highlights Disparate Hardships Affecting Women Throughout Pandemic Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on Women’s Equality Day, government watchdog Accountable.US released a new report highlighting the outsized burden women have been forced to bear as the COVID-19 crisis ravages the nation’s economy. Women make up a strong majority of several “essential” workforces — putting them at acute risk of COVID-19 infection as the Trump administration continuously fails to take action on hazard pay. And economic prospects have been bleak as federal aid programs for small-business owners left women — and especially Black women — to fend for themselves.

“All American workers are struggling right now, but women are facing particular hardships as the public health and economic crises rages on,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “Lawmakers and the Trump administration should be prioritizing real, material support like hazard pay and small-business relief for the most vulnerable. Instead, the Senate is on vacation and the President has yet to get serious about helping anyone other than the wealthy and well-connected.”

KEY POINTS:

• “ESSENTIAL” JOBS WITHOUT ESSENTIAL PROTECTIONS: 1-in-3 jobs held by women — including healthcare and childcare roles — have been deemed “essential” during the crisis… but no federal hazard pay standard has been approved to support these workers.
• WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS SHUT OUT OF AID: Experts fear that up to 90% of minority and women-owned businesses were shut out of the Paycheck Protection Program. And of those who managed to receive assistance through the program, Accountable.US found that less than 0.5% went to Black woman-owned businesses, as compared to the 70% that went to businesses owned by white men.
• CHILDCARE BURDEN FALLING LARGELY ON WOMEN: Women were four to five times more likely to leave work or reduce hours during the pandemic as childcare shifted to the home. Jointly, women account for 95% of the U.S. childcare workforce in an industry that has seen nearly 1-in-5 workers lose employment.

See more of the group’s analysis here.