The COVID-19 crisis disrupted childcare or in-person schooling for nearly 70% of US parents, with a quarter of working mothers rendered jobless or made to work less as a consequence, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2021) The COVID-19 crisis disrupted childcare or in-person schooling for nearly 70% of US parents, with a quarter of working mothers rendered jobless or made to work less as a consequence, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday.
The Federal Reserve's 2020 Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making showed the pandemic also left less than 40% of mothers with the ability to cover a $400 cash emergency on their own, Powell said.
"The pandemic disrupted childcare or in-person schooling for nearly 70 percent of parents, with 25 percent of mothers reporting they did not work or worked less as a result," Powell said at a Federal Reserve-sponsored conference on gender and the US economy. "Many faced substantial financial difficulty.� Only 37 percent of mothers who reported not working or working less because of childcare or schooling disruptions would cover a $400 expense with cash or its equivalent."
Powell said the pandemic widened deep-rooted inequities in the economy and those least able to bear it from racial, gender, and socioeconomic perspectives were the most affected.
"Women make up the majority of frontline workers, who have been under substantial strain - and subject to personal risks - during the pandemic. Additionally, women took on the majority of caring responsibilities, for older relatives and children alike," he said.
As of April 2020, the unemployment rate for women was 16.1%, compared with 13.6% for men, according to the Federal Reserve.
Powell said the gap persisted until September of last year and while it has since reversed, it does not account for the many women who left the workforce entirely.
