Is New Zealand
Covid-19 cutbacks have hit women hard, but the trades sector would welcome their existing skills and attitude. Melanie Carroll reports.
Dire predictions about women’s job losses in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown are, apparently and unfortunately, coming to pass.
Data last week from Statistics New Zealand showed a surprise improvement in the unemployment rate despite the scythe that has cut through the labour market after Covid-19 hit.
But the news wasn’t so good for women. The female unemployment rate for the June quarter rose to 4.4 per cent while it fell to 3.6 per cent for men.
The gap has been wider in the past, in late 2013, for example, when it was 4.9 per cent for men and 6.1 per cent for women. But it has worsened for women since late 2018.
People who want to work but can’t find a job – the underutilisation rate – jumped to 14.9 per cent for women from 12.7 per cent.
The shocking reveal – that of the 11,000 fewer people in paid employment, 10,000 of them were women – should be taken with a grain of salt, said Kiwibank economist Mary Jo Vergara, because the level of disruption during lockdown made it hard to conduct the survey.
‘‘But I think the message there is clear – even if you adjust for some anomalies in the data you’d still see over 50 per cent, probably around 60 or 70 per cent of those who lost their jobs, would be women,’’ Vergara said.
While men were the hardest hit in previous recessions, this time around it’s parttime workers in the female-dominated industries – retail and hospitality – who are losing their jobs.
‘‘If you’re moving someone out, thinking about how your business will cope in the next few months, your part-time workers or casual workers are probably the first ones out.’’
There was every possibility it could continue to get worse for women as the hospitality and retail sectors learn to live with lower staffing levels.
Women will have to use other avenues to find work. Some have started businesses, or joined another industry.
The Government’s $1.6 billion investment in trades and apprenticeship training will also provide opportunities for women,
Vergara said.
‘‘I think this money, it doesn’t turn a shop assistant into a construction tradie immediately, but it has the ability to rebalance the labour market.’’
‘Shecession’ is a phenomenon being experienced beyond New Zealand, given the worldwide over-representation of women in the service sector.
‘‘One thing the other places are highlighting is that the young are also quite heavily impacted by the lockdown, so you have a double whammy if you’re a young female that you’d be hit hard by the lockdown,’’ Vergara said.
University student Sophia Hutchinson, 20, is a casual employee at Auckland Council-owed ActivZone rollerskating rink. Her pay was halved during lockdown, then stopped at the start of May because she was casual.
She began the job in late 2019 and previously had no problems getting hours at the skating rink.
‘‘Now I feel [the job] is more vulnerable, I haven’t really felt that before but I’d love to be on part-time instead of casual,’’ Hutchinson said.
She has another job coaching rollerskating, and her ActivZone work has since increased, but there are only limited hours being given to casual staff at the moment, she said.
‘‘I’ve got StudyLink so I’m doing OK now, although I completely went through all my savings paying rent.’’
There’s no question that women are being hit harder by the Covid-19 slowdown, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter.
‘‘That’s something that we’ve anticipated and Government is actively working to make sure that we have sufficient support.
‘‘Everything the Government’s done to date, like the wage subsidy, has helped support those businesses through the lockdown period that are more likely to employ women, such as in tourism and hospitality, and as we continue our support through the next phases of the recovery it will be really important that we
‘‘We need both women to think that construction is a viable place to work, and fulfilling and interesting and challenging.’’ Stacey Mendonca