Pandemic hitting women harder: Monsef

62% of jobs lost due to COVID-19 had been held by women, minister says

The financial hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic is different from previous economic recessions because it has “hit women the hardest,” says Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef.

Monsef said 62 per cent of jobs lost in March due to COVID-19 were held by women; jobs in areas such as retail, hospitality and tourism.

Many women who remain employed are “on the front lines,” she added; nurses, personal support workers and grocery clerks, for instance.

“They’re often low-wage jobs, particularly held by racialized women,” she said.

If the economy is going to recover Monsef said, help for women and their families must come in the form of access to child care, to affordable housing and to long-term care for elderly loved ones.

Those areas — which Monsef called “social infrastructure” — need to be part of the economic recovery plans.

“Because without it, our economy will not be able to bounce back,” she said.

Monsef, who is also the minister of rural economic development and the MP for Peterborough-Kawartha, made the comments at a virtual town hall for business people on Monday night.

The meeting was hosted by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce and the Kawartha Chamber of Commerce and Tourism.

It also included federal Economic Development and Official Languages Minister Melanie Joly, who introduced herself as a friend of Monsef’s.

About 70 people attended on Monday, and Monsef mentioned that local politicians such as Mayor Diane Therrien and MPP Dave Smith were

there, too.

It was the first time this type of town hall was held, but not likely the last; follow-ups may be planned later.

Sandra Dueck, policy analyst for the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, moderated the town hall; she asked Joly how the tourism sector could recover.

Joly said the sector has been hit hard. International tourism has already declined by 45 per cent, she said, and by summer it’s expected to have decreased by 70 per cent.

Reviving the sector is best done “in steps,” she said.

When it’s safe, regional tourism will be encouraged first, then national tourism and then international trips.