Offices are reopening but only one gender can return to work. Here’s why

Death, grief and job losses from the pandemic have affected everyone but women’s jobs have been hit much harder than men, the International Labour Organization (ILO) shares in a report.

Between 2019 and 2020, 4.2% of women's employment was eliminated due to the pandemic, representing a drop of 54 million jobs, compared to 3% of men's employment or 60 million jobs, the UN agency said.

A major portion of this discrepancy is due to the fact that far more women shifted their focus to care work or tending to their family’s needs. While this work is important, it is unpaid and not accounted for in employment figures. Additionally, lockdowns reduced access to contraceptives which left at least 12 million women unprotected. This led to 1.4 million unintended pregnancies during the pandemic, as per UNFPA data.

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And even though women were at a greater risk of layoffs and reduced pay and working hours, only men's employment is likely to recover this year to 2019 levels. The ILO noted that those working in the accommodation, food services and manufacturing sectors were hit the hardest. Informal workers, many of whom are women, have also suffered major job losses.

According to ILO’s projections for the current year, only 43.2% of the world's working-age women will be employed in 2021, compared to 68.6% of working-age men.

This goes to show that even though the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted everyone, women and girls continue to bear the worst of its consequences.