childcare centre coronavirus
(Image: AAP/Dean Lewis)

Women have never been more essential to Australia. They keep our hospitals running and our children home-schooled. So how is it possible that their value in our twisted modern labour market has left them even further behind during the pandemic? 

We already know women have borne the brunt of job losses as a result of COVID-19. Now the ones who have kept their jobs are facing another insult: despite years of progress in the fight for equality at work, the gender pay gap is getting worse. 

Double workload

Women have earned on average $261.50 a week less than men, a widening of the gender pay gap by almost 1% over the past six months. And that is despite women being over-represented in the front line against the virus, as nurses, teachers, aged-care and childcare workers. They are also twice as likely as men to do more than 20 hours a week of unpaid housework.

Female-dominated industries have been the hardest hit by the economic fallout from COVID, but economic stimulus packages have focused heavily on male-dominated industries such as mining and construction.

And a far larger proportion of household duties and home-schooling during the pandemic has fallen to women. University of Sydney research during the Sydney lockdown in July found women reported doing an average of 61% of household tasks, including home-schooling, while their partners did 39%. It’s a pattern that has been replicated across the world, from New York to London. 

“Australia already has a very gendered division of labour by international standards,” Grattan Institute CEO Danielle Wood said. “That gap is bigger than in most OECD countries and has been exacerbated during lockdown. 

“There is a big rise in unpaid work as people try to juggle home-schooling. Some families are really at the point where they are making decisions that will have long-term consequences.”

Wood says women are more likely to cut their hours, take a step back in their careers, or leave the workforce due to the pressures both at work and at home.

“I’m worried that this second set of lockdowns will compound the likelihood of women making those permanent decisions,” she said.

Domestic violence risk 

Our Watch CEO Patty Kinnersly says another concern about a dramatically increased gender pay gap is that economic inequality is one of the biggest drivers of domestic violence. 

Data shows there has already been an increase in domestic violence during the pandemic.

“We know that there is clear evidence that pay inequality is at the heart of domestic violence,” she said. “In order to prevent violence against women we actually have to make sure we have gender equality across all areas of society.”

What can be done?

Current government and workplace initiatives are simply not working and there’s no doubt more money can be invested into women-dominated industries as part of the recovery effort. 

Wood is also calling for the reopening of childcare and schools to be a priority as cities and states open up, not just for the health and well-being of children but also for women. 

“The longer lockdowns go on, the more we’re going to see a step backwards in equality,” she said. “Employers need to recognise the importance of flexibility — and not just platitudes.

“The risk is they are not going to have some of their workers on the other side of this.”