The women during the pandemic became more involved in paid care and domestic work and this had an impact on their professional life. Owing to their care responsibilities, the women withdraw from the labor market and isolate themselves from the external environment. At the same time, the pandemic affected the women’s mental health. About 60% of the questioned women said it was very hard for them to self-isolate at home, shows a poll carried out by CBS-AXA during April 12-23, IPN reports.
According to Natalia Covrig, public policy analyst at the Partnership for Development Center, the inequitable division of time and responsibilities in the family derives rather from the stereotype that men should maintain the family, while the women should take care of the home more. The data show that the women during the pandemic played a greater role in educating the children than the men (50%:30%). They covered practically all the activities in the house, undertaking the most demanding work, such as cleanup, care for children, cooking, etc. The men assumed easier activities in terms of time and efforts. They were rather involved in such activities as payment of bills and buying of food products.
The care responsibilities isolated and will yet isolate more the women, said Natalia Covrig. The poll shows the men went out of the house and interacted with other people more often than the other members of the family. The women assumed most of the care activities in the family and were thus isolated from the external environment.
The isolation affected the women’s health. Over 50% of the women said that their mental health was affected during the social isolation period. They started to fear for the own heath and the health of family members, to be anxious and concerned about domestic violence.
Social isolation increased the risk of domestic violence. According to the data of the General Police Inspectorate, during the first four months of this year, compared with the same period of 2019 and 2018, the number of cases of domestic violence and of issued protective orders increased.
Rodica Ivașcu, programs director at the Partnership for Development Center, said that owing to the care responsibilities, the women become more inactive on the labor market. The poll shows that the men since the start of the pandemic have worked more in the office, while the women worked more at home. “If this type of work is not normalized and remains specific to women only, we risk having a new form of exclusion of women from work. The women in the future could have a lower presence on the labor market owing to care responsibilities,” stated Rodica Ivașcu.
The poll revealed that the rights of more men were violated during the pandemic. 17% of the men had unpaid leave as opposed to 10% of the women. Also, the men faced a bigger risk of losing the job (20%:13%).
Before the pandemic crisis, among the men’s main sources of income were the salaried work, agricultural and non-agricultural activities, while in the case of women – social benefits and remittances. The reduction in remittances owing to the pandemic can affect more the women and families with children, especially from rural areas.
The opinion poll covered a sample of 1,003 persons aged over 18, except for those who live in the Transnistrian region.
