More women seek unpaid leave to look after childcare in the home

Female workers have borne more of the brunt of Covid than their male counterparts – with significantly more women than men requesting unpaid leave to look after childcare in the home.

That’s according to a survey published this week by Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, which also reveals that almost half of its members said that more women than men had requested changes to their working patterns to facilitate caring responsibilities.

And according to Ibec, the findings confirm the growing concerns that Covid has the potential to regress hard-earned progress in gender equity.

The survey, carried out in March, sought to examine the impact of Covid on women.

It found that 20% of organisations had noticed a change in the position of women in their organisations over the past twelve months – including increased pressure and stress for women, childcare responsibilities, and requests from women for worktime flexibility to accommodate childcare and/or eldercare.

“Historically, women are disproportionately impacted by crises, disasters, and societal disruption, and Covid-19 checks all those boxes,” said Ibec Head of Social Policy, Dr. Kara McGann.

“Our survey findings confirm that Covid-19 has accentuated long standing gender imbalances across several dimensions, threatening hard won markers of gender equity.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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