Since February 2020, millions of women in the United States have lost their jobs—accounting for the majority of the jobs lost during the coronavirus pandemic-induced recession.
Black women and Latinas are being hit particularly hard: since April, at least 1 in 10 Black women and Latinas have been jobless. And millions more women—also disproportionately women of color—who remain employed are putting their lives on the line to care for people battling illness in hospitals and in their homes; to staff grocery stores and stores like Target and Walmart; to prepare and serve food in restaurants; to clean hotels and homes; to care for children so their parents can go to work. These essential workers are often in jobs that provide low wages, few benefits, and inadequate protection from COVID-19.
Women make up most of the workforce in jobs that are being devastated by the pandemic and in jobs that are holding up our economy and protecting our health. The analyses featured here examine how working women—particularly women of color—are faring in the current recession: who is losing jobs, who is gaining them, and what job quality looks like in key sectors, including state and local government; retail; child care; health care; and leisure and hospitality.
Policy makers can and must do more to stem the tide of job losses, ensure that workers are valued and protected, and rebuild an economy that works for everyone. To learn more, see NWLC’s resource collection, A Recovery That Works for All of Us.
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- Resources
Fact Sheets
More Than Three in Four of the Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19 Are Women
Fact Sheets
Women in Leisure and Hospitality Are Among the Hardest Hit by Job Losses and Most at Risk of Covid-19 Infection
Fact Sheets
One in Six Latinas and One in Five Black, Non-Hispanic Women Don’t Have Enough to Eat
Fact Sheets
Black, Non-Hispanic Women and Latinas Are Facing Severe COVID-19 Impact
Fact Sheets
COVID-19 Is Making Women’s Economic Situation Even Worse
Fact Sheets
One in Five Child Care Jobs Have Been Lost Since February, and Women Are Paying the Price
Analysis, Fact Sheets
COVID-19 and the Ensuing Recession Puts Women in Retail at Risk
Fact Sheets
Women Make Up the Majority of Front Line Workers of the COVID-19 Crisis
Fact Sheets
As State and Local Governments Face a Fiscal Crisis, Women’s Jobs Are on the Line
Blog Post
The Wage Gap Has Made Things Worse for Women on the Front Lines of COVID-19
Blog Post
Even Before the Pandemic, Women in Front-Line Jobs Were in Crisis
Fact Sheets, Resource Collections
COVID-19 Jobs Day Reports