Challenge 1 – Post Pandemic Women’s Health

While most people’s lives and work have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis, women’s jobs and livelihoods are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Millions of women were already supporting themselves and their families on meagre wages before coronavirusmitigation lockdowns sent unemployment rates skyrocketing, and millions of jobs disappeared. And working mothers were already shouldering the majority of family caregiving responsibilities in the face of a childcare system that is wholly inadequate for a society in which most parents work outside the home. Of course, the disruptions to day-care centres, schools, and afterschool programs have been hard on working fathers, but evidence shows working mothers have taken on more of the resulting childcare responsibilities and are more frequently reducing their hours or leaving their jobs entirely in response.

COVID-19’s massive disruption to employment, childcare, and school routines has crippled the economy and pushed millions of women and families to the financial brink. Balancing work and family obligations have long been the reality for women. Historically, women have been the primary caregivers in their families. This has remained true even as most women work outside the home and provide essential contributions to household income. Mothers working full-time spend 50% more time each day caring for children than fathers working fulltime. But COVID-19 and the uncertainty around childcare and in-person instruction for school-aged children the upcoming school term has further increased this burden.

It has become more challenging to manage the three roles so many women have – parent/caretaker, partner and professional – when as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parts of women’s lives that were commonly physically separated (home, work, school, personal, religious, etc.) are now taking place in one space.

Adding to the pressure is the widely held belief that self-care is something we cannot afford to fit into our busy lives and that we should rarely be unavailable to work/respond – even though science has proven that we are more healthy and sustainably productive when we take the time to recharge and recover.

This moment provides a critical opening to rethink how policy supports women’s roles as financial providers and parents.

Challenge

As the pandemic persists, women will continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of its burden. This will continue to take a toll on the overall health and well-being of women everywhere. How can we use technology to promote overall wellbeing for women in our current climate? Take into account the various types of wellbeing – physical, mental, financial, spiritual, etc.

The solution should appeal to women of all ages worldwide and be easy to access and incorporate into their daily routines.