Corona impact: Gender pay gap likely to get worse as more women get laid off, take time off work
Women earn about a fifth less money than men around the world.
By Reuters |
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The wage gap has been narrowing, but at the current rate it could still take 70 years to reach gender parity, according to U.N. Women.
MEXICO CITY: Advances in closing the worldwide gender pay gap are at risk of being reversed by the coronavirus, experts and advocates warn, as women take time off work to care for others and the low-paid sectors they dominate cut back hours and staff.
Women earn about a fifth less money than men around the world, reflecting factors from motherhood and employment in lower-wage jobs to stereotypes in promotion decisions, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The wage gap has been narrowing, but at the current rate it could still take 70 years to reach gender parity, according to U.N. Women.
The gap could increase this year as women are likely to be disproportionately affected by home responsibilities in quarantine and see their lower-wage jobs disappear, said Anita Bhatia, assistant Secretary General and deputy executive director of the United Nations' women's agency.
"Women will end up bearing a big brunt," she said.
"We have a lot of very supportive men in society but not enough, and we really need to work on the gender biases or the stereotypes that prevent equal sharing of care."
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In Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) nations, which are mostly developed countries in Europe, the gender pay gap fell to almost 13% in 2017 from nearly 18% in 2000.
PayScale, a Seattle-based maker of compensation software, said the U.S. gap has narrowed in recent years, but coronavirus could have the opposite effect as women are forced to take time off. The gap could increase this year as women are likely to be disproportionately affected by home responsibilities in quarantine and see their lower-wage jobs disappear. "This has the possibility ... that we could easily reverse that trend," said Sudarshan Sampath, the company's research director.
PayScale said it has found when women return to work after taking time off, they receive compensation offers that are on average 7% lower than other candidates for the same position.
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In the United States, Tuesday is Equal Pay Day, symbolizing how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what the average man earned in the previous year.
The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic could result in more than 25 million job losses, according to the ILO .
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Catalyst, a U.S. nonprofit, said research shows when companies downsize, diversity becomes secondary, with women and people of color suffering the most.
The group's Canada director Tanya van Biesen said she feared progress made in recent decades could be lost because hard-hit sectors like hospitality and travel have large female workforces.
"I am so afraid that this health crisis and ultimately economic crisis will cause us to lose the many gains that women at work have made," van Biesen told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
In a bid to ease paperwork for businesses at a time of economic pressure, Britain's government said they will not have to make their annual reports on their gender pay gaps this year.
But Sam Smethers, head of the British nonprofit Fawcett Society, said the one positive outcome for women with family responsibilities might be the normalization of remote and flexible working.
"We need to redesign the way we work," she said. "The coronavirus has forced our hand to do just that." (Reporting by Christine Murray, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly.
Covid-19: Ann Sullivan, John Prine & Other Icons The World Lost
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The Covid-19 outbreak has changed our world and turned it upside down. Life as we know it, might never be the same again and needless to say, the effects of this pandemic will be felt for decades to come.
Not to say that some lives matter more than others, but the outbreak took away some of our beloved icons, trailblazers and trendsetters who had achieved tremendous success in their lifetime and were gone too soon.
Here are a few who lost the battle to Covid-19.
The Covid-19 outbreak has changed our world and turned it upside down. Life as we know it, might never be the same again and needless to say, the effects of this pandemic will be felt for decades to ..
Read More
Veteran animator Ann Sullivan, who worked on Disney classics such as 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Lion King', died from complications due to the coronavirus on April 16 at the age of 91.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sullivan's retirement community, the Woodland Hills-based campus of the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF), confirmed the news of her death.
Sullivan left her job to raise four children, but she re-entered the business in 1973, when she started at Filmnation and Hanna Barbera.
(With inputs from PTI)
Veteran animator Ann Sullivan, who worked on Disney classics such as 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Lion King', died from complications due to the coronavirus on April 16 at the age of 91.According to..
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Former Pakistani first-class cricketer Zafar Sarfraz became the first professional player in the country to die after contracting the novel coronavirus on April 14. The 50-year-old first fell ill in April and was put on a ventilator at a hospital in Peshawar after his condition deteriorated.
"Sarfraz was healthy and lively but some 10 days ago he developed symptoms of the coronavirus and did not survive," said a family member who spoke to AFP.
Sarfraz, a middle-order batsman, played 15 first-class games in Peshawar and retired in 1994
(With inputs from AFP)
Former Pakistani first-class cricketer Zafar Sarfraz became the first professional player in the country to die after contracting the novel coronavirus on April 14. The 50-year-old first fell ill in ..
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Actor Allen Garfield, best known for his roles in films such as 'Nashville' and 'The Stunt Man', died of the coronavirus on April 9 at the age of 80.
Garfield's 'Nashville' co-star Ronee Blakely shared the news of his death in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
"RIP Allen Garfield, the great actor who played my husband in 'Nashville', has died today of Covid; I hang my head in tears; condolences to family and friends; I will post more later; cast and crew, sending love," Blakely wrote.
(With inputs from PTI)
Actor Allen Garfield, best known for his roles in films such as 'Nashville' and 'The Stunt Man', died of the coronavirus on April 9 at the age of 80. Garfield's 'Nashville' co-star Ronee Blakely shar..
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John Prine, an American folk legend widely considered one of his generation's most influential songwriters, died following complications of coronavirus on April 8 at the age of 73.
On April 3 Prine's wife Fiona had posted on social media the beloved country and folk star was on his eighth day in the ICU on a ventilator, and had pneumonia in both lungs.
Once dubbed the "Mark Twain of American songwriting," over his five decades in the music business Prine carved an image as an off-the-cuff wordsmith who forged melancholy tales with a dose of surrealist wit.
(With inputs from AFP)
John Prine, an American folk legend widely considered one of his generation's most influential songwriters, died following complications of coronavirus on April 8 at the age of 73.On April 3 Prine's ..
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Actor Lee Fierro, best known for playing Mrs Kintner in Steven Spielberg's ‘Jaws’, died of complications due to coronavirus.
The actor had moved from her home on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, where ‘Jaws’ was filmed, and was living in Ohio at an assisted-living facility.
Fierro is survived by her five children, seven grand-children and seven great-grandchildren
(With inputs from PTI)
Actor Lee Fierro, best known for playing Mrs Kintner in Steven Spielberg's ‘Jaws’, died of complications due to coronavirus.The actor had moved from her home on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, wher..
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Patricia Bosworth, an actress who once starred alongside Audrey Hepburn and later wrote biographies on several stars including Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, died due to the coronavirus on Sunday. She was 86.
Bosworth's stepdaughter, Fia Hatsav, told The New York Times that pneumonia brought on by the virus was the cause of death.
(With inputs from PTI)
Patricia Bosworth, an actress who once starred alongside Audrey Hepburn and later wrote biographies on several stars including Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, died due to the coronavirus on Sunda..
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Celebrated Italian shoe designer Sergio Rossi died at the age of 84 from complications over novel coronavirus on Saturday.
The shoemaker died on Thursday in Italy's Cesena, a city in Emilia-Romagna, one of the regions hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Riccardo Sciutto, CEO of the Sergio Rossi Group, shared the news of the designer's demise on Instagram.
(With inputs from PTI)
Celebrated Italian shoe designer Sergio Rossi died at the age of 84 from complications over novel coronavirus on Saturday.The shoemaker died on Thursday in Italy's Cesena, a city in Emilia-Romagna, o..
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Bill Withers, the legendary performer who defined 1970s soul with timeless hits like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me" died on Friday , his family said in a statement. He was 81 years old.
The Grammy-winning artist succumbed to heart complications, according to his family, which said it was "devastated" over the loss.
"A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other," they said.
(With inputs from AFP)
Bill Withers, the legendary performer who defined 1970s soul with timeless hits like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me" died on Friday , his family said in a statement. He was 81 years old.The Gram..
Read More
Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan, died late Wednesday after battling pneumonia brought on by the new coronavirus, leaving six sons and a deep legacy. He was 85.
"Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise. But it was pneumonia brought on by Covid-19," Ellis Marsalis III confirmed in an Associated Press phone interview. Four of the jazz patriarch's six sons are musicians: Wynton, trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of jazz at New York's Lincoln Center.
(With inputs from AP)
Ellis Marsalis Jr., the jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan, died late Wednesday after battling pneumonia brought on by the new coronavirus, leaving six sons and a deep ..
