Women Suffer Steeper Healthcare Job Losses During Pandemic
May 18, 2021, 7:42 PM | Updated: 10:54 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – At the peak of the pandemic, 1.4 million women lost or left their healthcare jobs in April 2020 compared to 188,000 men.
The numbers showed that there has been a slight rebound for women in healthcare, but their job gains still lagged behind men.
It’s similar to a larger trend of women in the workforce who were affected by the pandemic in general.
“Hundreds and even thousands of women tell us that their careers have been halted,” said Susan Madsen who studies women in the workforce, and childcare topics in Utah. “Some say it is like pushing on a big hold button.”
She said women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and her research revealed some reasons for that.
Factors include:
– Food, housing, and financial uncertainty.
– Juggling childcare with their careers.
– Emotional well-being impacts in the workplace.
Madsen was not surprised to hear about the gender gap in job losses. She explained that these losses also set women behind in leadership positions.
“What I believe from research I have read through the years is that – that year will be stalled. Where men’s careers still move forward. So we will be at least a year or even more behind what we could have been,” Madsen added.
The long-term effects of the pandemic and how it will impact women’s careers might not be known for some time.
Madsen said Utah has an advantage because the economy has rebounded so quickly.
She believes that women will recover and jump back into the workforce here in Utah quicker than other places in the country.
