UN-Women: Covid-19 has pushed more women into poverty

UN-Women has revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in poverty rates for women by 9.1 per cent globally. 

According to UN-Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, gender inequalities in the societies have been amplified by the pandemic which has also exposed millions of women to increased risk of infection, violence, economic devastation and poverty. 

In her statement, she observed that women have meagre income, they save less, have limited or no job security and are more likely to work in the informal sector with fewer social protections.  

The agency reported that  by 2021, around 435 million women and girls will be living in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day including 47 million pushed into poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The 740 million women globally with informal and precarious jobs that largely underpin the local economy are the most affected by 

closures and the pandemic mitigation measures. 

Mlambo-Ngcuka said, “Overall, women’s employment is 19 per cent more at risk than men’s, and while the pandemic will impact global poverty generally, women of reproductive age are disproportionately affected.” 

She called on the G7 leaders to ensure that their Covid-19 response intentionally, strongly and permanently redresses theser long-standing inequalities.