Coronavirus to drastically increase poverty rate for women, UN study finds

‘They earn less, save less and hold much less secure jobs – in fact, overall, women’s employment is 19 per cent more at risk than men’s,’ says UN Women executive director

Researchers warned that the public health crisis will roll back decades of progress on tackling extreme poverty and massively disproportionately affect women - with women of reproductive age hit hardest (Getty Images)

Coronavirus will dramatically increase the poverty gap between men and women as it places 47 million more women and girls below the poverty line, a United Nations study has found.

The poverty rate for women had been projected to fall by 3 per cent between 2019 and 2021, but it is now predicted to increase by 9 per cent because of the global Covid-19 emergency.

Researchers warned that the public health crisis will roll back decades of progress on tackling extreme, desperate poverty but will also have a profoundly disproportionate effect on women – with those of reproductive age hit hardest.

The study, carried out by UN Women and the UN Development Programme, estimates that by next year, there will be 118 women aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty for every 100 men in the same situation.

This gender gap of those living in extreme poverty – defined as living on $1.90 (£1.42) a day or less – is expected to rise to 121 women per 100 men by 2030.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women, said: “The increases in women’s extreme poverty ... are a stark indictment of deep flaws in the ways we have constructed our societies and economies.

“We know that women take most of the responsibility for caring for the family; they earn less, save less and hold much less secure jobs – in fact, overall, women’s employment is 19 per cent more at risk than men’s.

“The evidence we have here of multiple inequalities is critical to drive swift, restorative policy action that puts women at the heart of pandemic recovery”.

Achim Steiner, of the UN Development Programme, said that more than 100 million women and girls could be taken out of poverty if governments introduced an exhaustive plan to improve family planning services, education and fair wages.

He said: “Women are bearing the brunt of the Covid-19 crisis as they are more likely to lose their source of income and less likely to be covered by social protection measures. Investing in reducing gender inequality is not only smart and affordable but also an urgent choice that governments can make to reverse the impact of the pandemic on poverty reduction.”

The report states that the coronavirus emergency will push 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021. Women and girls will make up 47 million – increasing the total number of women and girls struggling to subsist to 435 million.

Researchers found that the secondary impact of the pandemic will result in southern Asia suffering a rise in extreme poverty.

Women work in some of the industries hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, such as accommodation, food services, and domestic work, the study notes.

The UN’s International Labour Organisation previously stated that, as of June, 72 per cent of domestic workers across the world had lost their jobs because of the coronavirus crisis.

A London School of Economics study found that women in the UK are more likely than men to lose their jobs in the recession because a greater proportion work in sectors that are forecast to be most badly affected. More women work in hospitality, leisure, tourism and the arts – industries where thousands of workers have already been furloughed or made redundant.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, previously warned that the coronavirus has rolled back decades of “fragile progress” for women and that it could take generations to recover from the damage.

He said enduring inequalities and prejudices mean women have not received the recognition they deserve for playing a critical role as key workers on the front lines of the pandemic, as well as taking on additional caring duties in the home.

Mr Guterres, addressing thousands of women from civil society organisations at a virtual town hall meeting on Monday, said that while 70 to 90 per cent of healthcare workers are women, only 30 per cent are in senior decision-making positions.