econ dit
The Recession Pink Recession The Pink
2020 was one of the most difficult years we have experienced, with COVID-19 drastically changing the way we live. what was particularly Lockdowns and social distancing restric- distressing about [the pantions reduced face-to-face interactions demic] was the disproporwith friends and family. Lectures and tionate impact it had on tutorials moved online, making studying women, and young women as difficult as it has ever been. This was especially.” paired with the economic and financial uncertainty involved with many people losing their jobs or having their hours of work reduced. Employment
Words By Mahya Panahkhahi, Adelaide University Economics Club
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With all the unpredictability that the pandemic brought, in 2020 Australia went into a recession for the first time in nearly three decades. What was particularly distressing about this was the disproportionate impact it had on women, and young women especially. Female-dominated industries like retail, hospitality, and tourism were impacted the most from shutdowns and restrictions, causing many women to lose their jobs, some temporarily and some permanently. Unfortunately, women have not just suffered economically. Their unpaid domestic work has significantly increased. More women are dropping out of university, they have been at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, and domestic violence cases have also increased. Due to these factors, many economists have called the recession caused by COVID-19 a ‘pink recession’ or a ‘she-cession’.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that between February and June 2020, around 5.7% of women lost their jobs compared to 4.7% of men. Employment data from the ABS shows shocking numbers for South Australia between March and December 2020, with an increase of 1% in the number of men employed (which is roughly around 7,700 men) compared to a decrease of 1.8% in the number of women employed (around 12,000 women). There are many possible reasons behind this difference in loss of employment. For instance, female-dominated industries were hit the hardest by COVID-related restrictions. At different points in time, shops, cafes and restaurants were either shut down or had to operate with various restrictions, requiring fewer staff. The tourism industry was also hit hard as travel restrictions were put in place. These circumstances, along with the fact that women are more likely to be employed in part-time and casual positions, has resulted in the impact of COVID-19 having been of greater economic detriment, in general, for women. Casual jobs are more insecure as their
