Women’s Pay, Participation Rates Hurt By Pandemic

Millions of women have left the workforce since the start of the pandemic, which exacerbates the pay inequality gap

Some gender gaps in the labor market have been linked to the pandemic. Some experts say that the virus has significantly influenced women's earning power. This is because the virus worsens underlying disparities, which federal pay discrimination legislation can't handle.

According to a study of Bureau of Labor Statistics data conducted by the National Women's Law Center, between the beginning of the pandemic (which the World Health Organization formally declared on March 11) and January 2021, over 2.3 million women left their jobs. The women's labor participation rate fell to a 33-year low of 57% during that period.

The pandemic has delayed the closing of the global gender pay gap by more than three decades, according to a report from the World Economic Forum released in March 2021.

Women's labor force participation rates remained relatively constant from the 1990s until just before the pandemic, when a surge of women entered the workforce, especially in service industries, as employment grew.

Many women were forced to leave their jobs because of the pandemic. Some women left because they had no other choice for childcare. Other women had to leave their jobs because of the layoffs and closures.

Many parents find that work is more difficult or impossible due to virus-related school and daycare closures. According to the U.S. Census, there were 1.4 million more nonworking mothers with school-age children in January 2021 versus the same month in 2020. From April to June 2020, the rate of non-employed mothers rose more than threefold, to 3.5 million moms not working. And, any time away from work reduces income.

When you leave the workforce, it impacts your overall earnings, and that's always been one of the more significant issues and concerns for women. A woman who isn't employed is unlikely to contribute to a retirement program such as a 401(k), she may lose her job-based health insurance, and her future Social Security payments will be limited as well since she won't be making contributions.

That's going to have a significant impact on a lot of women. It will influence when they can retire. It will most certainly alter the poverty rate. Experts predict that it will have an effect on the length of time someone is unemployed before being able to return to work.

A study released by the New York City Department of Education found that women who took time off to raise their children were paid less than when they worked full-time. When they return to work, these women are at a disadvantage: many employers see taking care of children as an interruption in productivity, causing them not to hire them back. If a woman goes back to work because of the COVID pandemic, she widens her pay gap when she attempts to return. It's a terrible self-fulfilling prophecy.

Employers are reconsidering resume gaps, which may hurt compensation since they might indicate that the candidate has less relevant experience than someone employed for the whole period.

The pandemic severely impacted Women-dominated businesses 

The more significant concern about the gender pay gap is that women have typically worked in lower-paying occupations, which impacts their earnings. The pandemic has caused many layoffs and job losses in industries typically dominated by women, such as retail, hospitality, education, and caregiving. This leaves women of color particularly vulnerable.

Women-dominated businesses were severely impacted at the start of the pandemic. While many nurses and doctors were on the front lines in health care, those working in areas such as elective procedures were laid off.

According to a February 2022 National Women's Law Center study of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the economy has lost almost 3 million jobs since February 2020, and women held 63 percent.

Even before the pandemic, many occupations that women traditionally did were already on the decline. Much retail employment has vanished with the advent of internet shopping, and women have predominately filled these occupations.

The pandemic has made a lot of things harder for women. This includes the jobs they have and the jobs they can get. A lot of this is because of the caregiving responsibilities women have. Women can also be steered into lower-paying jobs within an organization. This is a type of discrimination.

Remote work complicates women’s Equal Pay claims

The issue of women's equal pay during a pandemic poses difficulties for female employees who wish to bring claims under the federal Equal Pay Act (EPA).

The law, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same workplace who perform work that requires substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions."

In contrast to an Employment Practices Liability (EPL) claim, a successful EPA claim relies on comparing a claimant's salary to that of comparable males who make more money. However, because the pandemic has dispersed many people from offices to far-flung bedroom desks and kitchen tables, finding comparable workers will be significantly more difficult for women.

It may be more challenging to figure out what coworkers in the practice group or division are up to during the day because colleagues are no longer co-located as frequently. As a result, gathering evidence to prove that you were underpaid due to your gender may be more difficult.

Furthermore, the opportunity for fewer organic, in-person conversations with female coworkers might imply that women won't be aware of what gender-based discrimination they may be facing.

According to several experts, one of the most important phrases in the federal Equal Pay Act is "establishment," which was used to describe a workplace. An establishment is usually a real place, but if the 'business' is the workplace, what happens when not everyone is there?

A woman's EPA claim may be more challenging to bring than a man's because she must do the same job under similar circumstances as a male comparator. An office and a home office, for example, might be considered different circumstances in this situation. Remote work will prove an important weapon in the fight for equal pay.