Mothers of young children have been disproportionately affected by the lockdowns as a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, a study by the International Monetary Fund showed.
The study analyzes in close detail the labor market in the United States and finds that the burden on mothers with young children accounts for 45 percent of the increase in the total employment gender gap.
This burden has also caused an economic loss estimated at almost 0.4 percent of output between April and November 2020, the study said.
The study showed the reasons why providing more support for mothers is very important.
This support includes giving priority to the reopening of schools and providing financial aid for urgent needs and for re-training after losing many jobs.
Mothers of young children
According to the report in the United States, women were affected more than men, in the United Kingdom it was the other way around, while in Spain men and women shared similar levels of pain.
“Despite these differences, all three countries shared one thing in common: mothers of young children have been disproportionately affected by the lockdown and resulting containment measures,” the study said.
“School closures and the start of remote learning heaped extra care responsibilities on parents, and particularly on mothers.”
The study noted that, as a result, many women—who were largely shouldering the weight of childcare and housework even before the pandemic—left their jobs or cut the number of hours they worked.
Leaving labor market
The U.S. administration data showed that nearly two million women over the age of twenty left labor market during the pandemic and that the unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in March, compared to 3.1 per cent in February 2020.
IMF is a specialized agency of the Bretton Woods system of the United Nations, established by an international treaty in 1944 to work to promote the health of the global economy.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, the fund is managed by its 189 member countries, who include nearly every country in the world.
The fund aims to prevent crises in the system by encouraging different countries to adopt sound economic policies. As its name indicates, IMF members who need temporary financing to address the problems they face in the balance of payments can benefit from its resources.
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