Covid-19 & Women: your weekly update Oct 25 - Oct 29
Hello! We hope this finds you safe and well. Welcome to the latest edition of our Covid newsletter, bringing you the most up-to-date news 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 get started, we have some exciting news to share...
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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.
Thursday 4th November 2021 from 6pm | The Pearce Institute (Glasgow) or Remote
This COP26, Women’s Budget Group and Wen (Women’s Environmental Network)invite you to an evening exploring the importance of implementing an intersectional, feminist approach to tackling the climate crisis.
The UK Women's Budget Group are delighted to host this discussion on In the lead up to Equal Pay Day, this online event will look at both the history and the current issues around workplace gender equality.
Read the initial response of our Director, Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, on the Spending Review and 2021 Autumn Budget announcements this week: "Papering over the cracks rather than the transformative rebuilding that is needed".
We published our pre-budget briefings ahead of the Spending Review and Autumn Budget 2021, which includes analysis of the impact of the pandemic on women in areas such as health, employment, childcare. You can read more and access the briefings here.
Joint evidence to Treasury Committee on Covid-19 Just Fair and theWomen's Budget Grouphavejointly submitted written evidence to the Treasury Committee's inquiry on 'An Equal Recovery', you can view a blog summarising the evidence here and our written evidencehere.
For more updates on gender and the economy, and our non-Covid work, you can visit our website or subscribe to our main newsletter here.
Covid-19: The latest
Young and Female The Double Disadvantage
A new report by Irise International finds that the majority of young women in the UK feel that the pandemic response has failed to meet their gender specific needs, and feel that government policy is leaving them behind.
Will the pandemic end gender inequality for parents?
A new article in Gender and Covid-19 explores how parenting has shifted during the pandemic and whether this has led to marked benefits for families and society in general.
Canada needs a gender-responsive pandemic preparedness plan
COVID-19 exposed Canada’s lack of preparedness for the secondary gendered effects of the pandemic such as violence and the loss of work and income. This article in Policy Options Magazine outlines the necessity of developing a gender-responsive pandemic preparedness plan as a lesson learned from Covid-19.
Covid is an emergency, not a business opportunity Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) and Third World Network (TWN) are facilitating the Feminists for a People’s Vaccine Campaign (FPV) for equitable, accessible, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, and equipment. You can read more and join the campaign here.
Upcoming Events
European Unequal Pay Day Launch event “The Gender Pay Gap: What can you do? What can the EU do?” Friday 5th November 2021 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm
To mark European Unequal Pay Day, PES and its Flemish member organisation ZIJkant are holding an online launch event of their new campaign, discussing how to tackle the gender pay gap by focusing on ‘what you can do?’ as well as on ‘what the EU can do?’. The debate will involve focusing on what individual families and feminist allies can do concretely, such as speaking up and sharing best practices, combat stereotypes in the home and improve sharing of tasks. What can employers and companies do, but also institutions through legislative and structural changes at the European and national level, such as implementing the work-life balance & pay transparency directives, improve investment in the care economy, support projects to combat gender stereotypes etc? Register here.
Working parents, flexibility and job quality: what are the trade-offs? Tuesday 2nd November 2021 | 10:00am
Covid-19, Brexit, technology and automation are transforming the world of work in the UK, while government aspires not just to get people into work, but to "create high-quality jobs for all UK citizens". Yet to do so requires a deeper understanding of workers' different experiences and priorities. To help fill this gap, forthcoming research by the GIWL, in collaboration with Working Families and supported by the Nuffield Foundation, provides insights into what matters for working parents. It finds that while flexibility is key, other things – including job security and support from managers – are also essential and enable greater wellbeing and equity. Join our panel as we discuss our findings and explore practical solutions to improve the lives of workers with caring responsibilities. Register here.
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.
