In observance of International Women鈥檚 Day, officials with the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System noted how disproportionally the pandemic is affecting women鈥檚 mental health and their presence in the workforce.
And in January, the number of women who either had a job or were looking for one dropped by 275,000, compared with a drop of 71,000 for men.
During VCU Health’s Monday on how COVID-19 has affected women, the event鈥檚 moderator noted that not since 1988 have women made up such a small portion of the workforce.
鈥淭hese statistics are amazing,鈥� said Melinda Hancock, VCU Health System’s chief administrative and financial officer.
鈥淭his is going to be one of those balancing barometers, that when you鈥檙e looking at a benchmark from a gender perspective in the workforce 鈥� ‘Was that pre- or post-2020?’鈥�
Hancock anticipates long-lasting impacts related to pay and the recruitment of candidate pools to reflect representative samples of the workforce.
鈥淚 think this is going to have a number of ramifications,鈥� she said.
Women tend to work in jobs that have been most vulnerable to the pandemic, such as in hotels and restaurants. Many left work to care for children who were forced to stay at home. And panelists said that the traditional role of women as caregivers may also have grown and expanded to include friends and other families over the past year.
Noting the emotional toll it鈥檚 all taking, Hancock believes women are asking themselves: 鈥淲here, when, why, how, what am I going to do next? And where do I really spend my time and energies?鈥�
鈥淚f you鈥檙e not taking care of yourself, you can鈥檛 take care of others,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd, so that tug and pull has really been elevated during COVID, and in many cases there鈥檚 just a lot of women with a lot on them.鈥�
Hancock said she鈥檚 concerned about so many women having the weight of the world bearing down upon them — their families and extended responsibilities. But she is pleased that awareness of mental health is rising.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not where it needs to be. It needs to be much further along in its awareness and comfort in commonplace conversation, but I鈥檓 pleased to see at least it getting to that level,鈥� Hancock said.
