The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.

Gender inequality: why women will be hit more than men by the coronavirus

'29.07.2020'

Source: with the BBC

Offices have opened, schools have closed. Mostly men return to work. The gender gap in income and careers is widening, writes with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

Women will bear the brunt of the biggest economic crisis of the century, which is looming over the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, experts and international organizations warn. A medical rush is not a reason to give up the fight for gender equality, otherwise the achievements of recent decades will be canceled out, and the recovery from the crisis will be delayed, they say.

And without any epidemic, scientists spent a whole century on eliminating the deep chasm between the sexes in public and business life. The virus confidently burns one flimsy bridge after another, delaying the target for centuries.

“The Covid-19 pandemic threatens to set back all gains in economic empowerment for women and widen the gap that has not been bridged despite the progress of the past 30 years,” wrote four leaders of the International Monetary Fund.

They identified four main reasons why the economic crisis is affecting women more strongly.

Women make up the backbone of the workforce in the sectors most affected by the quarantine. They are more often than men employed in the informal sector, where workers' right to social protection and equal pay is violated. It is more difficult for them to return to work under quarantine conditions if there are children or elderly people in the house requiring care. Finally, in difficult times, especially in poor countries, girls are the first to sacrifice their education and future to help families.

Screenshot: Children's Hospital Colorado / YouTube

In business, the situation is similar. A recent study by the UN and the World Bank showed that among small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs suffered more from the coronavirus crisis: 64% versus 52%. And the old problems have only worsened during the crisis: the businesswoman spends even more time with her children, while schools are closed, they are more likely to face domestic violence and are less prepared for the sudden departure of business online.

According to statistics, in poor countries, women with access to mobile Internet are 300 million fewer than men - the gap reaches 23%. And on average, women are engaged in domestic work by almost three hours a day more than men.

“All these factors taken together make women vulnerable to crisis and, once the pandemic ends, threaten to increase gender inequalities in education, health and well-being. Decades of progress in this area will go to waste, ”writes Philippe Le Houérou, head of the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC).

“And the widening of the economic gap for men and women will result in huge failures in labor productivity and undermine the chances of a quick exit from the crisis,” he said.

One in five

The corona crisis not only touched women more than men, but also overshadowed the struggle for gender equality in opportunity, income, education, representation and security.

Even at a dock-like pace, it would take another half a century in Western Europe and a century and a half in North America, Asia and the Middle East. And on an average planet it would take about 100 years, the World Economic Forum estimated before the start of the pandemic.

Six months have passed, and it became clear that equality will not wait not only for those living now, but also for their children and even grandchildren. The policy priorities of most rich countries have shifted from the gradual restoration of social justice to the state of emergency and the battle for the survival of people and businesses.

However, it's not all bad. On one important front, progress is tangible. And equality is within reach.

It is about the role of women in running a business, determining how to make money, which industries and technologies to bet on, and which corners to cut for profit.

Screenshot: JEN ATKIN / YouTube

Equality indices show that in those Western countries where women are given their rights back more quickly, they are better represented in the highest echelons of government and business. And they prove that the shortest way to achieve tangible progress is to ensure equality where the rules of the game are determined and a strategy for the development of society is chosen.

The former is easier, the latter is more difficult, since politicians are chosen by the population, and directors to boards are appointed by business owners in order to ensure the maximum return on investment. The directors determine the strategy, approve the fateful decisions and elect managers to whom they delegate the day-to-day management and implementation of the planned.

Therefore, activists and politicians have long and closely monitored the representation of women on the boards of directors of companies. And there are successes here.

Three years ago, in American companies, this share did not exceed 15%, and by the beginning of 2020 it had grown to 22%, the consulting firm Equilar calculated. At this rate, parity will be achieved not by the middle of the century, but just a decade later - by 2030, the researchers believe.

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They track the HR policies of 99 publicly traded companies, which account for nearly XNUMX% of the world's largest US stock market, and compile the Gender Equality Index.

Until now, it has grown steadily, but the coronavirus pandemic is threatening stagnation, Equilar warns: directors of almost all companies in the crisis have something to do, and owners are easier than ever to disown non-profit initiatives.

The first signs of this are already evident. Out of 3000 companies, only 60 women make up at least half of the board of directors. Six months ago there were 63 of them.

American business is the largest corporate force in the world, but the United States as a whole lags far behind the leaders of gender equality. While in California, where Silicon Valley and the internet giants have mandated gender representation on boards of directors, other states have been slow to follow suit.

Screenshot: Paul Canty / YouTube

The United States occupies only 53rd place in the ranking of gender equality among one and a half hundred countries - slightly better than Ukraine (59th place), but worse than Moldova (23) and Belarus (29). Russia is at the bottom of the rating, it is also inferior to Kazakhstan and Georgia.

And the leaders are invariably Europeans: in the top ten there are seven countries of the Old World. And in the same place, for many years now, the standard of new capitalism with a human face has been carved.

Now money smells

Women are increasingly represented in the management of large companies with publicly traded shares, since the market value of such companies directly depends not only on the profitability of the business, but also on the popularity among investors - both retail and institutional: banks, investment companies, pension funds.

They have to take care of their image and are more susceptible to pressure from activists of all stripes: fighters against global warming, racial discrimination, gender inequality and other vices of society.

Under pressure from the public, the money accumulated by it in pension, insurance and mutual funds is gradually transferred to the shares of companies that can not only increase capital, but also do it ethically and in the spirit of the times: with an emphasis on social justice and environmental protection. And if earlier the compliance of investments with the ESG (environmental, social & governance) criteria was optional in the choice of assets, then gradually it becomes mandatory.

We are talking about hundreds of billions and even trillions of dollars and euros. Previously, government bonds were the main reliable asset for long-term investment of future retirees' money and surplus wealth, but in recent years, rates in this market have been zero and even negative. In search of income, funds are increasingly looking to buy shares and debt of private companies and banks.

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ESG attracts not only retail investors, but also large institutional ones. Two years ago, when assessing the future profitability of companies, only 32% of money managers read the non-financial part of reporting: corporate governance, ethics and environmental friendliness of business. Now this is 72%, the auditor of EY found out in a fresh regular survey of three hundred large funds and investment companies.

Not least because the fears of skeptics have not yet been confirmed.

Money does not smell, and disgust harms profits, critics of excessive legibility argued. However, over the past two years in the European Union, for example, shares of the 50 largest socially responsible companies have grown in value faster than the market as a whole, the regulator of European exchanges ESMA calculated.

As the demand for capitalism with a human face has skyrocketed, both from citizens and from those who provide business with equity capital, the authorities got involved. At the forefront is the European Union, which is developing pan-European standards for responsible investment and accounting assessment.

They will allow investors not to take their word for it from companies, but to compare their actions with clearly defined criteria in the EU. On the other hand, it will give regulators the opportunity to oblige businesses to behave responsibly and comply with new standards - or to be punished. Halfway has already been passed, and the EU plans to complete this work within the next two to three years.

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