Page 32 - BusinessWest October 26, 2020

The Dress for Success Western Massachusetts digital-literacy program has helped numerous women like Carolyn, who was provided with equipment and coaching to start an online business.
At the same time, according to a study
by management-consulting firm McKinsey, while women account for 39% of the global workforce, they are overrepresented in three of the four hardest-hit sectors during the pandemic: accommodation and food servic- es (54%), retail and wholesale trade (43%), and services such as arts, recreation, and public administration (46%). In addition, only 22% of working women have jobs that allow them to telecommute, compared with 28% of male workers.
The numbers get worse for women of color; while the U.S. female jobless rate
those businesses, or work at those busi- nesses? The effect will be long-lasting. When you’ve lost your job and it’s not coming back, how do you pay your bills?”
Holding Up the Pillars
Still, last month’s massive decline in female employment is at least partially — and possibly mostly — due to the lack of childcare options, Russel Price, chief econo- mist at Ameriprise, told CNN, noting that employment in child daycare services was still down nearly 18% in September from its
“Economic inequality was here before COVID-19. The pandemic just showed us how big this gap is and how deep the disparity goes.”
pre-pandemic level.
One factor influences the next,
Haghighat said, which is why the Women’s Fund has been working on a grant-funded project to create an ‘eco- nomic mobility hub’ in the region by identifying and bolstering key pillars — social determinants of either suc- cess or pain — that impact one’s abil- ity to navigate the economy. “If one of those pillars is disrupted, like housing or transportation, that can be devas-
remained at 8% in September, it’s higher for black and Hispanic women.
“Economic inequality was here before COVID-19. The pandemic just showed us how big this gap is and how deep the dis- parity goes,” said Tanisha Arena, executive director of Arise for Social Justice in Spring- field, adding that some individual success stories have been wiped out.
“Some businesses will never open back up because they didn’t survive the pan- demic,” she noted. “How many women own
tating for women and families.”
Arena agreed, noting the most obvious
example — how a lack of daycare can lead to job loss, which can lead to an inability to pay rent or mortgage. “Now we’re talking about
a housing issue in the middle of a pandemic — and with the moratorium being lifted, how many people are facing eviction and being homeless? I see the fallout of these economic challenges.”
In addition to distributing food to seniors, directing people to housing resourc-
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the patriots play here
32 OCTOBER 26, 2020
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
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