Covid-19 & Women - The Weekly Update 👌

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Covid-19 & Women: your weekly update

February 8-12 2021

Dear Subscribers,

We hope you are safe and well. This is 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.

If you would like us to include any news, publications, research projects or events in this newsletter, please reply to this email!

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.

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The Women's Budget Group on Covid-19

Response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women
Along with 6 other organisations, we signed this joint letter calling on the Government to implement the recommendations from the Women and Equalities Select Committee report on the unequal economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women.

3 in 10 low-income families have lost hours at work because of the pandemic
New polling data shows that even before the current school closures mothers reported being responsible for higher amounts of unpaid work. This has likely increased with the school closure of 2021.

Autumn/Winter Webinar Series: Inequalities and Covid-19
We are are hosting a series of lunchtime webinars exploring different issues in the context of Covid. Our next event 'Shared Parental Leave Reform' is scheduled to take place on Friday 19th February at 1pm-2pm. Register here. Recordings of our previous webinars are available on our website.

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

Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact
The Women and Equalities Select Committee report on the unequal economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women found that Government policies have "repeatedly skewed towards men."

Disabled people between 3 and 4 times more likely to die of Coronavirus
Disability Rights UK response to new data from the Office for National Statistics that shows that Disabled people were at more than three times the risk of dying from Coronavirus than non-disabled people between January and November 2020

More than half a million employers at risk of bankruptcy without further support
New figures published by the Institute of Public Policy Research in this blog post find that almost one third of UK firms are at risk of collapse in the spring if government support is not extended.

Fuel Crisis Report
Report published by Fuel Bank Foundation finds that 91% of families they helped this year are rationing heat and hot water. There has been a significant increase in the number of people experiencing fuel poverty as a result of the pandemic.

The debts that divide us
Flash findings by Resolution Foundation from a survey of families claiming Universal Credit.

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on BAME carers in Coventry and Leicester
Professor Shirin Rai of Warwick’s Department of Politics and International Studies leads on a new project which will focus on the interaction of care, caring and carers within BAME families and communities in Coventry and Leicester, seeking to understand how COVID-19 has affected those being cared for as well as their paid and unpaid carers, and recommending ways to increase their wellbeing and resilience.

People's Covid Inquiry
People's Covid Inquiry has been called by campaign organisation Keep Our NHS Public.They are holding regular public sessions into the government's response to the pandemic and invite you to have your say.

How our emergency fund helped vulnerable young women
Update from Young Women's Trust on the young women who received emergency fund payments about their experiences of living in lockdown

How Black and South Asian women are bearing the brunt of the British high street’s collapse
Article in Galdem on the racialised and gendered impacts of the shrinking British high street as a result of the pandemic-induced recession.

3 Young Mums On The Highs, Lows & Tantrums Of A 3rd Lockdown
Article in Refinery29 about how some young mothers are coping, a month into our third national lockdown.

Covid-19: Government policies ‘exacerbated’ gender inequality
Article in HR magazine, Personnel Today on the report from the Women and Equalities Select Committee.

'It's the isolation': parents on the impact of lockdown on children
Four parents discuss how the pandemic and lockdowns have affected their children in the Guardian.

Upcoming Events

Teachers on the frontline: lessons from COVID-19
16 February | 10am-12pm (GMT)
IIEP-UNESCO invite you to this strategic debate on how the pandemic has affected the education workforce and what the long-term implications will be as teachers mobilise for their students to allow learning to go on.

Diversity & Inclusion: Leadership beyond a pandemic
17 February | 12pm-1pm (GMT)
The Chartered Management Institute invite you to this webinar, hosted by the London CMI board, where host Katie Kelly and two guest experts, Jo Causon and Steve Axe, will share their views and experiences on Inclusive Leadership.

Shared Parental Leave Reform
19 February | 1pm-2pm (GMT)
Parental leave is a key pillar of securing gender equality at home and at work. Britain needs a new system of genuinely shared parental leave to secure better opportunities for parents and infants. The UK Women's Budget Group invite you to this webinar on Shared Parental Leave Reform, which will explore the current system of Shared Parental Leave in the UK, the impact that it has gender equality and what a new system should look like.

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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.