RESISTIRE Factsheet: Care and Crisis: Fostering a Paradigm Shift

The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced many pre-existing inequalities, and simultaneously made them more visible. The lockdowns brought with them the closure of many care facilities and the requirement to stay at home, which strongly impacted people with caring responsibilities, whether it be for children, elderly people, people with a disability, and/or others. But the situation impacted men and women in different ways, as the gender care gap was exacerbated, and women took up more care work. The gender pay gap likely contributed to this trend: because women tend to earn lower wages and work in part-time jobs more often, they were the most likely to have to give up their paid work within a couple in order to sustain the increased caring duties of a household.