Source: Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women

COVID-19 is taking a huge economic toll on women.

The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW) explains how in a new report, “Child Care and Education During COVID-19: A Report on the Economic and Social Impact on Women in Massachusetts.”

“We are hearing about – and many of us are experiencing – intense stress related to the impossible task of simultaneously working and providing care,” commission chairwoman Denella Clark says in a press release. “It is time that we as a Commonwealth understand that early education, care, and school are essential components to families’ economic stability and the state’s economy.” Clark explains more in this Legislative briefing video.

To write the report, the commission drew on testimony delivered during a virtual hearing as well as on a survey that collected 4,000 responses from residents across Massachusetts.

“The last five months have been insane,” a Somerville resident said on the survey. “So many women in my community are at the end of their rope; they’ve had to quit jobs they love or that their families need to survive because it’s been too tough to find childcare.”

An Orleans survey responder adds, “My children will be doing remote learning,” but both the respondent and their spouse work outside the home. “Now I am concerned as to how to have my children do remote learning while we keep our jobs in order to provide for the family and keep a roof over our heads.” The respondent’s wish? To have a more flexible workplace.

Backing up these individual stories are statistics that show how much families and women are struggling. These findings include:

• 96% of respondents said they have been “in some way affected due to COVID-19-related changes in child care and educational arrangements”

• “72% percent of respondents reported an increased inability to work when asked about the impact of COVID-19 on child care and educational arrangements”

• “Almost half of respondents (49.4%) reported that changes in their child care and educational arrangements have directly impacted their employment status”

• 42% of respondents said “they believed that changes in their child care and educational arrangements will set them back relative to their employment opportunities and/or career”

• “56% of essential workers responded affirmatively that different arrangements in child care and education have negatively impacted financial security, whereas only 41% of non-essential workers responded affirmatively,” and

• “49.6% of respondents reported that changes in their child care and educational arrangements have negatively impacted their financial security”

Source: Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women

Annual income also plays a role. Families with incomes above $100,000 per year felt more secure. However, “Women with annual family incomes of less than $100,000 reported higher rates of disruption in their financial security.”

The report concludes:

“…this crisis is having immediate and long-term impacts on women’s economic stability and self-sufficiency. Solutions will require significant commitment from policy makers and leaders to guide our communities through the recovery and beyond to a more equitable future.”

Specifically, the report makes a number of recommendations and suggests additional areas for inquiry.

Among the recommendations:

• expand unemployment benefits to cover workers who must leave jobs to care for children

• strengthen workers’ rights and protect mothers and parents by encouraging flexible work schedules

• incentivize businesses to provide on-site child care and expanded remote work options

• provide “consistent and reliable access to child care facilities and schools,” and

• invest in the early education and care workforce

The areas of inquiry include:

• the inequities faced by women of color

• domestic violence

• housing insecurity, and

• the extra care-giving responsibilities of women who care for young children or for a range of other people, including aging parents, spouses, and dependent adult children

As the report says, “The economy will not be able to recover unless we address child care and education needs of working mothers and parents.”