Prolific author Dr Diann Rodgers-Healey, Director of the Australian Centre for Leadership for Women, asks whether Australia and the EU will achieve global gender equality in a post COVID-19 world.  

Diann writes in her Emerald Group opinion piece the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted that the lack of progress globally toward gender equality has exacerbated the pandemic’s gender impact. Women make up 39% of global employment, but account for 54% of overall job losses. Female jobs are 19% more at risk than male ones, simply because women are disproportionately represented in sectors negatively affected by the pandemic. As women do an average of 75% of the world’s total unpaid-care work, the rise of these demands during the pandemic contributed to the gender gap in vulnerability to job losses. She concludes, lessons from the pandemic indicate gender mainstreaming, gender responsive budgeting and quotas are essential to achieving gender equality in the post-COVID-19 world.

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