A new study released by the ILO reported that fewer women will regain jobs lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the recovery period, compared to men. 

In the report “Building Forward Fairer: Women’s Rights at Work at the Heart of the COVID-19 Recovery,” the ILO highlights that between 2019 and 2020, women’s employment declined by 4.2 percent globally, representing 54 million jobs. Meanwhile, men suffered a three percent drop, or 60 million jobs.

The report indicated that this means that there will be 13 million fewer women working this year compared to 2019. However, the number of men in work is likely to recover to levels seen two years ago, meaning that only 43 percent of women will be employed, compared to 69 percent of their male counterparts.

The ILO report notes that women have experienced disproportionate job and income losses due to their over-representation in sectors hard hit by lockdowns, such as food services and manufacturing.

Not all jobs and global regions were affected in the same way. The study showed the clear regional disparity in the percentage of job losses for men and women.