There are easily noticeable differences with the impact of COVID-19 on women and men – and we’re not talking about their health or sustainability to the certain virus symptoms. The Coronavirus doesn’t care what gender its victims are. So then, why there is a difference in the impact of COVID-19?
No matter whether you are a student, a fast food worker or a politician, you are not safe from the impact of COVID-19. Yet, there are some gender differences that we can notice. For example, in the US, the Coronavirus is killing men at twice the rate of women. It still isn’t known why this is happening. One of the theories is that women have stronger immune systems, while the other claims that women have certain behavioral differences compared to men, which makes them more healthy overall, and less likely to get sick with the deadly Coronavirus. However, these differences are usually the reason why the long-lasting impact of COVID-19 is in most situations harder on women than on men. We’ll discuss a little bit about what is the impact of COVID-19 on women in the further text.
More Women Lose Jobs Compared to Men
Several studies on the current unemployment rate show that women are more likely to lose their job during this global pandemic. In the US, the unemployment rate increased 0.9% for women during March 2020. On the other side, this number is 0.7% for men for the same time period. This is, actually, unique to the impact of COVID-19, as usually men are the ones who lose more jobs during recession. However, men are the ones who usually work at positions that are considered critical. At the same time, what’s surprising is that more men had telecommutable jobs compared to women – 28% of men, compared to 22% of women.
This is even worse if we take into the consideration the fact that more single parents in the US are female than male. Even if a women works on a position that is telecommutable in theory, if she has a small kid at home the execution of the job might be at risk. Especially as a woman is less likely to be able to hire a nanny or to find a neighbor willing to help. And if a child is older, the mother will likely have to homeschool him or her, which also leaves her with less time to work.
The Rate of Domestic Violence Has Increased
One of the worst impacts of the Coronavirus outbreak is the rise of the domestic violence cases in the western countries. One in five women worldwide has experienced violence in the past year! As the COVID-19 has locked most of us in our homes, all these women are now being stuck with their abusers, without an easy access to helpful services. They can’t just go outside or flee away and are too scared to use their phones to call for help.
Women Are more Likely to Experience Mental Health Problems
There has been a research on the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the people from US during the Coronavirus lockdown. Its results have shown that, when it comes to men, their mental health during COVID-19 mostly remained the same, or that the changes have been statistically insignificant. On the other hands, more women have experienced decline in their mental health during the pandemic and the global emergency.
When we look at the previously mentioned facts, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Women are more likely to work less or to lose their jobs completely. Also, they tend to do more domestic work, even if they are employed. It is also usually a women’s responsibility to homeschool their kids during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Of course, there is another important factor to this, and that is that women can explain their feelings more easily than men. This means that a woman is more likely to notice that she is not feeling okay. Nothing can replace a good talk with the professional, but there are several ways to improve your mental health at home.
Impact of COVID-19 on Family Planning
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the women’s rights to make their own decisions. Some of them are the direct impact of COVID-19 – for example, certain states such as Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma have put a temporary ban on all abortions except the most urgent ones, as they want to preserve as many hospital beds and other medical resources as possible.
Another restriction when we’re talking about women’s reproductive health comes in the shape of closing down of many family planning facilities as they are deemed ‘non-essential’. This means that most women don’t have the option of receiving free birth control, which often times is used not just to prevent unplanned pregnancies but also to help improve the health of reproductive organs.
On the other side, the COVID-19 has put a halt on the most fertility treatments in the US. If the unemployment rate continues to rise, this could mean that, in the near future, only the people with a very high income could have access to fertility treatments. This is devastating to most women – and their spouses as well – who have problems conceiving a child and want to have professional help.
Women Are More Impacted By the Changes of the Real Estate Market
The impact of COVID-19 on the housing market has already started to have its consequences. And despite most people connecting men with the real estate market, the truth isn’t as black and white. True, more people in the real estate profession are men, however, women are the ones who are buying houses more than their male counterparts.
Studies show that single elderly women are the leaders when it comes to the real estate investing. Before the Coronavirus lockdown, the number of women buying houses was on the rise. Even if there is a man who is the face of the purchase, there is usually a woman behind him completing all the paperwork and looking for the right properties.
The Coronavirus has left a mark on the real estate market, and women are the ones who will likely bear the most consequences. Whether it comes to the divorce or foreclosure, women are usually the ones that have to deal with the process of finding the new property and financing the down payment. At the same time, with the unemployment rate rising, more women will be facing the possibility of losing their homes and being left on the streets, and just the thought of it is having a great impact on their mental health.
This is not to say that men don’t experience any financial or mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the contrary, as we’ve already stated, people of all genders and races are being impacted by this terrible disease. We are simply trying to highlight some of the problems women face during the COVID-19 pandemic.