Future of work

Women have faced a disproportionate impact from COVID-19 on several fronts. First, women are overrepresented in some of the hardest-hit sectors, such as retail and accommodation and food services, that rely on face-to-face contact. Second, other employment vulnerabilities were also exposed by the pandemic. Women represent 58% of employment in low-income earning occupations and have suffered a larger loss of employment than their male counterparts. Third, the impact on working mothers has also been difficult even for those who retained their jobs. Their average hours worked fell steeply, particularly for mothers with young children, during the initial wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.