Protecting Women’s Livelihoods in Times of Pandemic: Temporary Basic Income and the Road to Gender Equality”:
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its latest report named “Protecting Women’s Livelihoods in Times of Pandemic: Temporary Basic Income and the Road to Gender Equality” has proposed a Temporary Basic Income (TBI) for poor women in developing countries.
- The proposal comes ahead of the International Women’s Day (8th march) celebrations.
Gender Inequality:
- Unpaid Labor:
- On average, women spend 2.4 more hours per day than men on unpaid care and domestic work.
- Among people who participate in the paid economy, women spend an average of four hours more per day than men on paid and unpaid work combined.
- Discriminative Policies:
- Beyond complex gendered norms, some of the economic vulnerability imposed on women also comes from policy and political decisions that have persistently deprived them of compensation in the form of equal pay, paid maternity leave, universal health, unemployment and care benefits.
- Effect of Covid:
- Women have been hit harder than men by the pandemic, losing income and leaving the labour market at a greater rate.
- This vulnerability is due to gender inequality.
- Women are 25% more likely than men to live in extreme poverty.
- Only one in ten countries and territories, however, have policies addressing women’s economic security needs, according to the Covid-19 Global Gender Response Tracker.
- Covid-19 Global Gender Response Tracker is an initiative of UNDP and UN Women which shows that social protection and jobs response to the pandemic has largely overlooked women’s needs.
