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The WEF Gender Gap Report comes to a sobering conclusion: Corona turned back the wheel of time.
The corona crisis has hit women harder than men worldwide. Women have lost their jobs more often, their income has fallen more sharply and they have had to cope with a career break more often than men. And now they are making slow progress – despite the economic recovery.
As co-author of the report, Silja Baller, puts it: “This year’s report shows that the labor market is recovering very unevenly.” The women could not have made up the lost ground. That set equality back a whole generation. The small progress in the last year is marginal compared to the regression in the pandemic.
Gender equality is measured in four thematic areas: health, education, politics and economic opportunities. The crisis has thrown women back, especially in terms of economic opportunities. There are two reasons for this: First, women work more often in the service sector worldwide, and this sector was particularly hard hit by restrictions during the pandemic. Second, it was mainly women who stepped in when the children were sent home because schools and day care centers were closed. This also applies to Switzerland.
As long as the idea prevails that women have to take care of children, parents and grandparents, we won’t get any further. It needs a radical rethink.
Overall, Switzerland does not do badly, ranking 13th out of 146 countries surveyed. Above all, however, there are problems with economic equality. Switzerland is in 47th place here. Swiss women still have a lot of potential when it comes to participation in the labor market. And while women in many other countries have caught up again in the last year, there has even been a slight step backwards in Switzerland in this area.
That doesn’t surprise Janine Dahinden, President of the Swiss Society for Gender Issues. The more equality-friendly the structures were before the pandemic, the faster women are now catching up. This included, for example, the infrastructure for childcare and that for the care of older people – and Switzerland is not one of the front runners here.
Legend:
According to the WEF, the Covid pandemic has set gender equality back decades worldwide. If things continue at the current pace, it will be another 132 years before women are equal to men.
key stone
The professor from the University of Neuchâtel points out that when it comes to childcare work, Switzerland got off to a very uneven start. While mothers devote around 60 percent of their entire working time to their small children, it is only 20 percent for fathers. This asymmetry was exacerbated during the pandemic.
Of course, this has an impact on how much women can get involved in the job. Something fundamentally needs to change, says Dahinden. «As long as the idea prevails that women have to take care of children, parents and grandparents, we won’t get anywhere. It needs a radical rethink.”
A long way
This applies both to the highly qualified in the home office and to the migrant who works in a private household and has lost her job. Both have to cope with massive financial losses due to the pandemic. Also in the long term. One suffers from a career break, the other has to build up her independence again.
Silja Baller from the WEF finds it difficult to say how equality will develop in the long term. “But what you can say is that the risk of regression increases with the number of crises.” One thing is clear: it will be years before gender equality is achieved.