ZEYNEP AKGÜL

Ankara- The Covid-19 pandemic crisis has dramatically increased the number of poor women worldwide, and it has widened the gap between men and women living in poverty. Before the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, many women were already out of the labor force. The global pandemic has made the situation worse. The global pandemic negatively affects women; women are losing their jobs faster than men. We talked about what women have faced during the pandemic with Deniz Beyazbulut, an expert of the Research Center of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK-AR).

· The Covid-19 pandemic has increased violence against women and women’s burden. Women lose their jobs faster than men. Why are women affected more by the pandemic?

As stated in the DİSK-AR Unemployment and Employment report, short-time work allowance, and cash wage support applications have been practiced during the Covid-19 pandemic instead of layoffs. After the practices forcing people to have unpaid leave, there has been a serious decrease in the number of working people. Accordingly, the number of people who keep working decreases significantly, particularly women. The total number of working people has decreased by 8.1 percent, the number of men by 6.5 percent and the number of women by 11.5 percent in the last year (November 2019-November 2020). These figures show that unpaid leave practices have been used against women more.

· Does the Covid-19 pandemic expand poverty among women in Turkey and in the world?

The United Nations Development Program says that the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to push an additional 88 million to 115 million people into extreme poverty this year. According to this, it is possible to say that the poverty among women may be expanded.  There is a decline in the employment of women in Turkey and the world. This means a decrease in women's income. It may not be possible to monitor the effects of poverty on women in the short term (due to limited data), but it can be said that poverty among women can expand in the long term.

“Women mostly work in the service sector”

· 75% of the applications to İHD (Human Rights Association) about violations based on economic and social rights were made by women. In the content of the applications, it is seen that most of the applications are applications for financial aid (93.7%) and unemployment (46.2%). Can we say that these data show us that women work in the sectors most affected by the economic crisis or that women are employed more in informal jobs?

According to the report on the rate of unemployment in Turkey against the unemployment rate prepared by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), as of November 2020, the number of working women is 8270. Women mostly work in education, trade, health, and social services. Women mostly work in the service sector. We can say that these sectors are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. According to the report, there is no change in the number of women employed more in informal jobs. The unemployment was bad before the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and seriously threatened both social and economic life. After the pandemic outbreak, people have kept losing their jobs and income. The roadmap for working life published by DİSK on May 19, 2020, emphasizes that we can only solve unemployment with the understanding of the social state.

First of all, it is necessary to implement practices that secure income during the pandemic and after it.  These practices can be called basic income, family insurance; the name of these practices can be discussed.

“The issue of women’s employment goes back to the beginning”

· What will we face about the issue of women’s employment after the Covid-19 pandemic?

Although female employment tended to increase partially before the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, it is possible to say that it goes back to the beginning after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Since no one knows when we will overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, it will take time to understand the change in women’s employment.