Page 31 - BusinessWest October 26, 2020

Richard F. Burkhart, CPA and Salvatore J. Pizzanelli, CPA, JD, PFS
The talented team at Burkhart Pizzanelli
Accounting
Julie M. Quink, CPA and Deborah J. Penzias, CPA
The talented team at Burkhart Pizzanelli provides
provides expertise in a full range of accounting
and financial services. Feel free to call on us at Consulting 413.734.9040.Feel free to call on us at 413.734.9040.
expertise in a full range of accounting and financial services.
201 Park Avenue, Suite 2, West Springfield, MA
201 Park Avenue, Suite 2 • West SpringfieldR, eMtAir0e1m08e9nt Plans T: 413.734.9040 • F: 413.781.5609
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try sectors in which women’s employment is more concentrated, including restaurants, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. This
was not the case in past recessions, which tended to hurt male- dominated industry sectors like manufacturing and construction more than other industries.
Second, the COVID-driven economic shutdowns have closed schools and daycare centers around the country, keeping kids
at home and making it harder for parents — especially mothers, who tend to provide the majority of childcare — to keep working.
“The pandemic has really impacted women disproportion- ately in terms of not being able to go to work so they can help
“The pandemic has really impacted women disproportionately in terms of not being able to go to work so they can help their kids learn.”
their kids learn,” said Margaret Tantillo, executive director of Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, an organiza- tion that empowers women to achieve economic independence. “It’s frustrat- ing for parents to be sitting at home and trying to do what they need to do as well as help their children learn. A lot of women have several children at home.”
According to the study, among mar- ried parents who both work full-time, the mother provides, on average, about 60% of childcare. And when schools started up remotely last month, it fur-
ther strained parenting demands. That contrast in accepted gen- der roles has contributed to a mass exodus of women from the work world that could have long-lasting ramifications.
“We have folks who are voluntarily dropping out of the job market, particularly women, because of the competing demands in terms of remote learning for children,” Haghighat told Busi- nessWest. “They have to navigate all that. Even if it’s a working couple, women tend to make less money, so if something has to give, and someone has to give up their job for a while, it tends to be the woman because she’s already making less money. That’s what we’re seeing.”
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BusinessWest WOMEN IN BUSINESS OCTOBER 26, 2020 31