Women’s economic autonomy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This article is a contribution to the debate on the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on gender inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on women’s economic autonomy. Through a review of the contributions of feminist economics and an analysis of the empirical evidence, it identifies a deterioration in the indicators associated with women’s incomes and their participation in the labour market. The sexual division of labour is deepening in the region, endangering the scant progress made regarding women’s economic autonomy in the pre-crisis years. It warns about gender biases in crisis mitigation policies and reflects on the importance of redistributing time, resources and power to move towards a new style of development based on gender equality and sustainability.