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CHAPTER 1
Findings More than two years since the start of the pandemic, much of the world is still reeling from its ongoing effects. While COVID-19 continues to disrupt lives and livelihoods, compounding crises are intersecting and the consequences are drastic. Climate change, forced displacement, and violent conflict are increasingly urgent development challenges for the global population. Evidence from current and past crises shows that women are affected disproportionately (Akrofi, Mahama, and Nevo 2021). During the pandemic, women dropped out of paid employment at higher rates than men, took on responsibilities for increased care of children and the ill, and faced greater risks of violence (Bundervoet, Davalos, and Garcia 2021; Center on Gender Equity and Health 2020; Cucagna and Romero 2021; De Paz Nieves, Gaddis, and Muller 2021; Kugler et al. 2021). Indeed, virus containment measures affected women’s labor market outcomes more adversely than those of men. This effect is due, in part, to women’s overrepresentation in high-contact sectors, such as hospitality (Alon et al. 2020; Kugler et al. 2021). Moreover, the increased burden of care resulting from the closure of schools and childcare centers during the pandemic fell more heavily on the shoulders of working mothers (Collins et al. 2020; Del Boca et al. 2020). Even in economies where a disproportionate share of women did not drop out of the labor market, women were often under additional stress trying to manage increased care responsibilities while remaining at their jobs (Goldin 2021). Women—both employees and entrepreneurs— were also affected more adversely than men with regard to business closure, reduced demand for products or services, and financial distress (Hyland et al. 2021; Torres et al. 2021). At the same time, women-led businesses were more likely to increase their use of digital platforms (Torres at al. 2021). While men accounted for a higher proportion of disease-related deaths, women’s health and well-being were immensely affected in other ways. For example, women’s access to maternal health care and reproductive services suffered,1 and
