A staggering 33% or one-third of young women surveyed lost their jobs because of the pandemic as of January this year, according to a study by Brac.
The study found that women had a harder time finding replacement jobs and had slower income recovery amid the pandemic in contrast to men.
The rate of joblessness in women was 29%, three times higher than that of 11% for young men.
For female youths who were able to find jobs, income dropped by 21% in contrast to men, whose income fell by only 10%.
The income of younger people who were able to find jobs did not recover to the pre-pandemic level, with income recovery being much lower for women than men, said Dr Imran Matin, executive director of Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).
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He said this while presenting the findings of a study conducted by BRAC’s BIGD, during a webinar hosted jointly by BIGD and Brac's Skills Development Programme (SDP) on Sunday.
“The shock induced by the pandemic has raised uncertainties on the progress made in regards to women empowerment as many women have been unemployed for an extended period,” Matin said.
“This might also lead to a good dividend of the female working demographic to leave the market permanently that already has a low rate of women participation,” he added.
According to the study, convenient working areas for women entailing private tutoring, handicrafts, factory jobs, tailoring, and light engineering were hit the hardest.
During the webinar, speakers also underscored the importance of technical and vocational education, training, and development of skills catering to both local and global markets.
However, according to Joydeep Sinha Roy, head of operations at Brac SDP, barriers for adolescent girls and young women’s access to skills learning entail culture and traditional gender roles, gender stereotyping, lack of career guidance, safety concerns — particularly fear of gender-based violence and sexual harassment — family responsibilities, and the availability of quality apprenticeships.
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Highlighting the impact of the pandemic on women, Jahanara Beauty, the executive director of Neda Society, pointed out that employers sought more male workers in the informal sector than women.
“Since a large number of women had to give up jobs, it did not just affect their income but it had immense social impact as violence against women increased and incidents of child marriage rose drastically,” she added.
“We need to change the perception towards women and enable a women-friendly labour market environment,” said the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Program Officer (M&E) for Skills 21 Project Tahmid Arif.
Brac's Gender, Justice and Diversity Program Director Nobonita Chowdhury and In-charge of Brac SDP Tasmiah Tabassum Rahman also spoke on the occasion.