MARCH 01

The economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound detrimental effect for most people around the world.

Yet, it has impacted men and women differently.

Women are more likely to work in health care, unpaid care, and domestic work, making them more susceptible to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women still earn less than men for equally valued jobs, bear more of the childcare burden, and face a higher risk of violence in their homes.

The pandemic has widened the gender gap in labor force participation, risking decades of progress for women as workers and entrepreneurs.

As we write this, the COVID-19 pandemic is still claiming lives and livelihoods, and government policies to address the gender effects of the pandemic have not been enough given the magnitude of the challenge. According to the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law 2021 report published today, women still have only three-fourths the legal rights of men, on average around the world.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 2, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.