Good News – Smokers Quit in Droves Due to Covid-19. Bad News – Women are Struggling
15 June 2020
Smoking and Covid-19
In the UK alone, more than 1 million people have given up smoking. Wow! And almost half said they stopped smoking because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
That number is much higher than normal. It’s thought that there are several reasons.
- Health – it’s thought that smokers are at risk of more severe Covid symptoms (although this is not yet certain).
- Availability – it can be more difficult to buy cigarettes while isolating
- Social – people who smoke socially, don’t do so because of much-reduced social gatherings
Yes, there are still over 5 million smokers in the UK, but 1 million less is huge. I’m full of admiration!
Women During – and After – Covid-19
As I researched this article, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I was pretty horrified by how bad things are.
There is growing concern about the extra pressures being put on women’s careers during the pandemic – and whether this can end up pushing them back.
It’s especially tough in families where parents are trying to work from home while home-schooling their children or caring for other relatives. All over the world, it is still women who shoulder three-quarters of unpaid care work. And new studies show that women are feeling particularly “fraught”.
Even if women feel their jobs or incomes are relatively safe, many are saying they just can’t carry on like this for much longer. And the mental health toll is driving some to consider quitting their jobs during the pandemic.
For women who want / need to work, Covid-19 is having a major impact on women in lower-income brackets. So many jobs have been lost in the accommodation, food, retail and manufacturing sectors, where more women work than men.
“Previous crises have shown that … when jobs are scarce, women are often denied job opportunities available to men,” the International Labour Organization warns.
A study that tracked 10,000 male and female MBA graduates in Asia, Canada, Europe and the US, found that women progressed much slower than men in their careers – and it didn’t matter whether they had children, or how experienced they were.
The findings showed
- Women were more likely than men to start at a lower level in their first post-MBA job
- When men worked long hours, this strategy seemed to help their careers, but not women’s.
- Male graduates were rewarded with pay rises as soon as they switched between firms, but women’s salaries increased only after they proved themselves to their managers first. “Women have to constantly improve performance, whereas men are promoted based on potential” according to the study.
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Women at even higher levels are also being disadvantaged by Covid-19. A new US study shows that women trying to join firms at Director level have a much tougher time when companies are struggling.
Shareholders who were normally happy to support female directors when everything was going well, often withdrew their support if the company was struggling, or if there was a crisis.
So, women already do the majority of household tasks, child care and caring for relatives. Thanks to Covid-19, they’re now more likely to lose their jobs, and find it harder to find work than men.
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Warm regards,
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