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Economic Development

North East business group urges action to tackle impact of pandemic on women

Women's Leadership Forum at the North East England Chamber of Commerce has written to Equalities Minister Liz Truss to outline the impacts of the pandemic on women

Alix Bolton is chair of the Women's Leadership Forum at the North East England Chamber of Commerce

A North East business group has called on the Government to take action on the disproportionate impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on women.

Alix Bolton, chair of the North East England Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Leadership Forum, has written to Equalities Minister Liz Truss, outlining a range of ways in which the pandemic has impacted more on women.

In the letter, Ms Bolton said that women are more likely to have lost their jobs during the pandemic and to have seen reductions in working hours.

She said childcare responsibilities had fallen more on women during the various local and national lockdowns, and that the gender pay gap was likely to have risen.

Ms Bolton has also highlighted the rise in domestic abuse during lockdown, and the problems faced by many charities in the North East.

She said: “The economic impact of Covid has the potential to entrench inequalities in society, we need to use the recovery as an opportunity to tackle gender inequalities and increase the number of female-led businesses and start-ups.

“If we allow Covid to increase gender inequalities in the North East, then the levelling up agenda has failed.”

Data from the Office for National Statistics has shown that the average hours worked per work by women in the North East fell by 2.7 hours this year, the largest reduction in the 海角视频. Research by women’s groups has suggested that many women have lost their jobs or had to take reduced hours during the pandemic because of their childcare responsibilities.