Covid-19 & Women - The Weekly Update 👌

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Covid-19 & Women: your weekly update

July 05 - July 09 2021

Dear Subscribers,

We hope you are safe and well. After a short break, we are back with our weekly newsletter,
bringing you the latest on gender, the economy and Covid-19. In 2021, we hope to continue bringing you relevant news on the gendered effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. If you like what we are bringing you, forward this email to a friend or two so they can sign up here.

Before we start, we have some exciting upcoming events and opportunities we would like to share...

1. We have a new opportunity to join our team - spread the word!

Head of Finance and Organisational Development
Hours: Negotiable between 22.5-30 hours per week Salary: £38,110 pro rata (£30,488 at 0.8 FTE) Deadline: Monday 12 July 2021, 9am

Click here to find out more information and details about the application process.

2. Call for Tenders - Green Jobs and Income Security

As part of our Feminist Green New Deal project in collaboration with Wen, we are looking for experienced researchers to produce policy papers on our second round of discussions, which will focus on the future of green jobs, and how we can ensure income security in a green, gender-equal economy.

Click here to find out more.

3. Feminist Futures: Reimagining Global Climate Justice

For our 3rd Annual Early Career Network conference, Feminist Futures: Reimagining Global Climate Justice, we invite ECN members who are engaging with ideas rooted in (feminist) environmental justice to present their research on 28 October 2021 virtually, via Remo.

Click here to learn more about the themes of this years conference and how to apply

If you would like us to include anything related to gender and covid-19, please reply to this email or email admin@wbg.org.uk - thank you!

Keep reading for more news on the gendered and economic impacts of the pandemic in the UK and beyond. Scroll down to the bottom to catch upcoming events on gender, the economy and Covid-19.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch!

The Women's Budget Group on Covid-19

Our recent work...

Data shows that 64,0000 childcare places have been lost during the winter lockdowns
A new briefing published as part of our Local Data Project shows that over twice as many childcare places have been lost during the winter lockdowns, than in the first 6 months of lockdown. You can read more here.

Local Data Project FIND Series
We recently launched the Local Data Project: FIND Series, which is a rolling programme designed to introduce you to some of the key tools you can use to uncover inequality in your local area. This is an exciting new beginner level programme, with opportunities to network, promote peer learning, and build relationships with and between organisations working towards the same goal: women's equality.

You can keep up-to-date with Local Data Project events through our website or by signing up to the newsletter.

Covid-19 and Working Class Women Study
We have recently published the final report of a collaborative project between UK WBG and Professor Tracey Warren (Nottingham University) and Professor Clare Lyonette (University of Warwick), which analyses the impact of the pandemic on women across a range of areas, including furlough, division of housework and childcare, financial security, flexible working as well as the overall impact of the pandemic on health and wellbeing. You can read more here.

Find everything the Women's Budget Group has done on Covid-19 here. This includes our reports on the impact that Covid-19 has on Social Security and Social Care, as well as joint letters, policy responses, and more.

Find it all here

Covid-19: the latest

Caring without Sharing: Single parents' journey through the Covid-19 pandemic
The final report arising from Gingerbread’s Caring Without Sharing research project, highlighting the unique challenges for working single parents created by the pandemic and how these challenges have evolved over time and what action is needed going forward.

Pandemic Crisis in Childcare Threatens Gender Equality
The Byline Times highlights the challenges facing the childcare sector, with 35% of local authorities in England reporting an increase in the number of childcare providers closing permanently.

Carers and disabled campaigners raise fears about relaxing Covid restrictions
Disabled campaigners and unpaid carers are demanding clarity from the Scottish Government over moves to relax Covid restrictions despite rising case numbers, stating the risk to their lives and those of their families is not one worth taking, as reported in The Scotsman.

Beyond a Zero-Sum Game: How Does the Impact of COVID-19 Vary by Gender?
A review article in Frontiers Sociology, on the importance of considering the impact of the pandemic holistically, avoiding a zero-sum approach of sex and gender analysis, and instead encouraging an intersectional approach which engages in ways that mutually identify and support marginalised groups.

Working from home: How classism covertly dominated the conversation
Professor Tracey Warren (University of Nottingham) and Professor Clare Lyonette (University of Warwick) write in The Conversation on the research carried out in collaboration with WBG, on the often overlooked classed experiences of workers throughout the pandemic, urging further action is needed to support those most negatively impacted.

Low confidence in the UK’s ability to rebuild post-pandemic
Only a quarter of the UK public are confident that ‘build back better’ can be delivered after the pandemic, according to new findings commissioned by UCL.

Upcoming Events

Social Infrastructures for a Post-COVID-19 World
Monday 12 July 2021 | 12:00pm - 1:30pm (BST)
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed both how essential and how fractured Britain’s systems of social care and community health are and the racial and economic divides that determine who is able to access them. It has also paradoxically shown some ways forward for community engagement as local authorities, the NHS, and community groups have built new caring relationships that have saved lives and generated mutual support. This event, hosted by LSE's Department of Anthropology, brings together a diverse range of speakers involved in these policies and local initiatives to move beyond recovery and renewal from COVID-19 and question what equitable social infrastructures might look like in a post-covid world. Register here.

Changing Narratives About Unpaid Care Work and the Economy
Wednesday 14 July 2021 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm (BST)
Covid-19 has exposed the challenges that most women, especially mothers, face in trying to juggle paid work and care responsibilities. Previous lockdowns have demonstrated the difficulty of juggling the two - with many mothers even forced out of the workforce as a result of the pressures caused by the pandemic. Make Mothers Matter will host an event in response to the UN's 2021 High Level Political Forum, which considers progress towards its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including building back better from Covid-19. The event will specifically focus on how we can change the narrative around unpaid care work and the economy, and ensure governments and international organisations take action in favour of this change. Register here.

WPG Re-Launch of the Feminist Recovery Plan - One Year On
Wednesday 28 July 2021 | 10:00am - 12:00pm (BST)
One year on from the Women's Policy Group's launch of the initial Feminist Recovery Plan, many recommendations are outstanding and many women have continued to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We have spent the past year highlighting the gendered impact of the pandemic and we need this to be recognised and urgently addressed. The Women’s Policy Group has decided to re-launch the plan, with updated data, evidence and recommendations. The WPG has also undertaken a significant amount of research with women in NI and want their voices to be at the core of our recovery from COVID-19. Register here.

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The Women’s Budget Group scrutinises government policy from a gender perspective. We are a network of leading feminist economists, researchers, policy experts and campaigners committed to achieving a more gender equal future. We have worked towards this since 1989.