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  • 25-01-2021 18:54

EU/Presidency: Young women disproportionately affected by crisis - European institute

EU/Presidency: Young women disproportionately affected by crisis - European institute

Lisbon, Jan. 25, 2021 (Lusa) - The pandemic crisis is "disproportionately" affecting young women, according to a survey by the European Institute for Gender Equality, released on Monday at a high-level meeting of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Preliminary results - sent to Lusa by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), which the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU has asked to prepare a 'research note' on the impact of the pandemic on women - also show that employment opportunities for women who were already less likely before the pandemic "have diminished disproportionately and have a potentially greater long-term effect".

"Maintaining employment is being particularly difficult for women", it said in the first research findings, which will be shared today with experts from all Member States participating in the High-Level Gender Mainstreaming meeting under the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU that Portugal wants to serve as a basis for political and economic decisions to recover from the crisis.

The EIGE study reflects a high prevalence of gender inequality among young women (15 to 24 years old), less qualified women and foreign women.

Using Eurostat data, the EIGE reported that employment needs in the second half of 2020 were 16.9% for women and 12.5% for men.

These first figures also show a higher percentage of women working from home (WFH) - 45% compared to 30% for men - and the EIGE recognises positive and negative impacts on this form of work.

Among the advantages is "an increase in flexibility and potential new gender dynamics in the division of domestic and care tasks".

Among the disadvantages are "obstacles to career progression, psychological effects and increased domestic violence".

Preliminary research said that there are more women than men in unconventional jobs, who face a greater risk of losing their jobs and of seeing their wages reduced or social protection eliminated.

Also, "unemployed women tend to be inactive much more than men [in the same situation]," it noted.

As many women are working in sectors where they cannot go to work - such as agriculture and textiles - this situation could create "a new division between those who can WFH and those who cannot", these first results also point out the fact that women are at a disadvantage in digital skills, especially older women.

SBR/ADB // ADB.

Lusa

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