LettersCoronavirus in Hong Kong: don’t let women become collateral damage

As the pandemic worsens workplace inequality, the government should support industries that are major employers of women and stabilise their incomes

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Mother and child at Tamar Park on August 18. Many companies still let go of women first, assuming that men are always the breadwinners and forgetting that many mothers are single parents. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 7:45am, 20 Dec 2020Updated: 7:45am, 20 Dec 2020

I am writing in response to the article, “Asian women pay the price of pandemic as Covid-19 ravages economies, jobs” (December 12).

Michelle de Guzman, Duong Thi Huyen and Dwi Kunto, all Asian mothers mentioned in the article, are nations apart but have one thing in common – they all were forced into joblessness or failed to earn a proper living due to the coronavirus pandemic. The situation is no better for many in Hong Kong, where gender discrimination has been a problem in the labour market for decades. While many NGOs, such as the Hong Kong Federation of Women and the Hong Kong Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities, are trying their best to fight for gender equality, the situation has worsened amid the pandemic.

The coronavirus has brought a global economic recession, as cities close and tourism declines. Investment is down, as is consumption, as people stay at home more to avoid catching the virus.

Many companies have been forced to close down while those lucky enough to remain operating have had to lay off workers. Many still subscribe to the outdated thinking that “men are breadwinners, women are homemakers”, regarding men as more important and reliable in the workforce – and leaving women the first choice when it comes to the firing line.

Stay-at-home mothers do not necessarily fare better: women’s rights activists note that the pandemic has intensified gender inequalities in the city and made life harder for all women as they bear a disproportionate amount of caregiving and housework.

Many employers also fail to acknowledge that many mothers are single parents – for them, compared to their younger male peers, it is far more important to have a stable income.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} As the pandemic worsens workplace inequality, the government should support industries that are major employers of women and stabilise their incomes

As the pandemic worsens workplace inequality, the government should support industries that are major employers of women and stabilise their incomes