More women into extreme poverty
Though Covid 19 pandemic has impacted lives in all sides of the world, yet among the worst hit are women. Especially, the women from vulnerable sections. Women lost sources of livelihood and borne enormous pressure of household activities since coronavirus lockdown in most of the countries. It’s the women who have also been the victims of domestic violence in all this time.
Not only that in the pandemic times, younger girls had to leave schools, and go into child marriages. Girls and women fell prey of trafficking, and even it’s the women who had to become poorer, globally. As the coronavirus crisis has mitigated decades of efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, women bear the burnt across the world, says a report of United Nations.
More women pushed into poverty
Nearly 47 million women enter into extreme poverty across the world in result of Coronavirus outbreak, says UN data. This has mitigated decades of progress to eradicate poverty, said the data based on United Nations’ study – ‘From Insights to Action: Gender Equality in the wake of COVID-19’.
The poverty rate for women is likely to increase by 9.1 percent this year, said the study commissioned by the UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Before pandemic, women poverty rate was expected to decrease by 2.7 percent between 2019 and 2021.
Covid pandemic is likely to impact global poverty in general, and will disproportionately affect the women, especially of reproductive age. For every 100 men in the age group of 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty (living on $1.90 a day or less), there will be 118 women by 2021. This gap is likely to increase to 121 women per 100 men by 2030, said the projections.
Deep flaws of society
UN Women and UNDP report also estimates, 96 million people are likely to be pushed into extreme poverty by 2021. Of whom, 47 million population will be women and girls. With this, the total number of people living in extreme poverty will go up to 435 million. And this figure will not bounce back to pre-Covid levels until 2030, estimates the UN study.
Despite taking major responsibilities of caring for the family, women earn less, save less and hold much less secure jobs, says UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Women’s jobs are 19 percent more at risk than men’s jobs, she further said.
Women, who were working in the sectors worst hit by pandemic, are more prone to layoffs and losing livelihood sources. These sectors, where women’s employment is more at risk, include hospitality, food services and domestic services.
Need of gender-responsive policies
An uplifting of 100 million women and girls from extreme poverty is possible, says UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. Only if the governments take initiatives towards improving access to education and family planning, fair and equal wages, and expansion in social transfers, he adds.
It would take just 0.14 percent of the global GDP, i.e. around $2 trillion, to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. Also, it will take just $48 billion to ease the gender poverty gap, the UN study projected. The UN also cautioned that in absence of quick steps by the governments, the figure of extreme poverty as well as gender inequalities could go far more upwards.
Coronavirus outbreak has emerged as a serious threat to the agenda of eradicating extreme poverty by the end of 2030. Gender inequalities are also on rise as the pandemic has posed no gender-neutral impacts on the people. Women are suffering much more than their men counterparts in extreme poverty situation.
