Page 34 - BusinessWest March, 21, 2022

an increase in perceived gender-based violence during the pandemic, even in high-income countries.”
By partnering with the UMass Donahue Insti- tute and surveying 200 area women, Haghighat hopes to localize those global trends to determine where the economic engine is jamming.
“Is it child and dependent care or job prepara- tion or lack of a supportive network?” she asked. “We added ‘supportive network’ as one of the determinants we use, understanding that, when something goes wrong in a woman’s life, she might have a supportive network she can reach out to when things are going wrong, like a grand- mother who can watch a child. But we realize that, oftentimes, women will lack that supportive network, which will obviously deter them from achieving economic security.”
Another determinant is identification, which can be a serious barrier not only for undocu- mented women, but women emerging from incarceration.
“When you come out of incarceration, you don’t just get handed your ID. You have to re- establish your identification, which is mindblow- ing to me,” Haghighat said. “So many things these days require identification, so that’s a huge barrier to getting housing, getting paid to work, all those things.”
A report from UMass Amherst School of Public Policy (SPP), released last month, revealed some of the impacts that the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic had on Massachusetts households. Led by UMass Amherst economist Marta Vicarelli, the team from SPP’s Sustainable Policy Lab surveyed more than 2,600 Massachusetts residents from October 2020 to February 2021 to gather informa-
tion about the challenges households faced due to the public-health crisis and its socioeconomic fallout, and the strategies adopted to address these challenges.
The survey covered a wide range of topics, including employment and financial strains, childcare and education, physical and mental health, substance use, and food security. Vicar- elli said the team’s analysis devoted particular attention to women, children, and minority populations.
“Our results shed light on the socioeconomic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in
report having become financially dependent
on their partner due to pandemic disruptions. Echoing the global Lancet study, female respon- dents were also more likely to indicate substan- tial changes in their professional life to support the needs of their households, such as keeping their jobs but working fewer hours, taking unpaid leave, leaving their job, or changing jobs.
“There’s a real concern about lost stability for retirement purposes,” Haghighat told Business- West. “And who knows what’s going on with the Great Resignation? Hopefully, women who have more flexibility are taking advantage of a better
“Who knows what’s going on with the Great Resignation? Hopefully,
women who have more flexibility are taking advantage of a better labor
”
labor market to make up ground in terms of their jobs and so forth. Over time, we’ll see how that plays out.”
An Ongoing Conversation
market to make up ground in terms of their jobs and so forth.
Massachusetts households across different socio- economic groups,” she wrote. “Many of these impacts have been persisting throughout the pandemic. Special focus is devoted to delays in children’s academic and emotional development, negative mental-health outcomes, and negative effects on women’s employment. If not addressed quickly, these socioeconomic impacts will have lasting, and possibly irreversible, implications for the United States. We hope that our results will inform the design of policies that address these impacts and support vulnerable groups.”
Notably, the survey found that 31% of respon- dents saw a decrease in overall income and sav- ings, and women were more likely than men to
A 2019 Women’s Fund report called “Key Find- ings on the Status of Women and Girls in Western Massachusetts” highlighted the fact that women in Hampden County were underemployed and experiencing high rates of poverty. Since then, COVID-19 has complicated the issue, and the impact on
women in
Greater Spring-
Women
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