Economics
Covid-19 Threatens to Undo Women’s Economic Progress, IMF Says
- Women are more vulnerable to economic effects of the pandemic
- Policy makers must ‘limit the scarring effects,’ fund says
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Covid-19 could roll back gains in women’s economic opportunities after 30 years of progress, the International Monetary Fund said.
Women are especially vulnerable to the negative economic effects of the pandemic because they are are more likely to work in industries that are sensitive to lockdowns and tend to be employed in the informal sector in low-income countries, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and others said in a blog published Tuesday. Females often do more unpaid housework than men, and are more at risk of dropping out of school in developing countries due to Covid-19, they said.