WHILE the magnitude of job losses has affected all Australians to some degree, recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows women in Victoria have suffered job losses at a rate five times that of men, fuelling a so-called ‘pink recession’.
Women are over-represented in part-time and casual work and in industries including the arts and hospitality, leaving many women vulnerable to unemployment or underemployment during the pandemic.
Georgie Dent, executive director of The Parenthood, said, “These figures are the continuation of a dangerous trend and we know that simultaneously women are carrying an increased load of unpaid work at home as they navigate lockdown and home schooling.”
According to the Grattan Institute, spending an additional $5 billion per annum on childcare would deliver an $11 billion-a-year boost to the Australian economy by helping women back into the workforce.
Imperative to solving the ‘pink recession’ is providing quality, affordable early learning education and childcare.