Gender and Political Economy: A Pandemic Petri Dish

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many inequities in global society, particularly those regarding gender. As the primary caregivers of the world, working women already suffered from the double burden of caregiving coupled with paid employment, and the pandemic has only increased this burden. The disproportionate job losses for women during pandemic-related shutdowns have exacerbated financial pressures and contributed to physical and mental challenges for women as well, creating what has been called a female recession. Women who have kept their jobs often find themselves in frontline roles with potential exposure to the coronavirus, forced to choose between financial security and physical safety. These difficulties are even greater for women with children whose careers, interrupted by childcare, are losing job experience and seniority in addition to financial savings and retirement contributions, worsening the motherhood penalty for working mothers. The shadow pandemic of gender-based violence has also surged due to lockdowns in close quarters, economic pressures, and high stress levels among families. Feminists throughout the world are calling upon their national governments and international organizations to address this gender crisis within the COVID-19 pandemic.