The gender pay gap stands at 16 per cent

Post COVID-19 the gender pay gap is widening, currently standing at approximately 16 percent worldwide. The growing chasm in the gender pay divide needs to be stopped, the bleeding needs to be suppressed. Further, women of color, women with children, immigrants, and women with disabilities who face worse off situations need to be protected.

Being discriminated, and being paid less for similar job roles, has a damaging effect on the morale and self-confidence of women

Being discriminated, and being paid less for similar job roles, has a damaging effect on the morale and self-confidence of women. The adverse effects amplify during a crisis entrenching them in bigger problems with no end in sight.

Equal pay matters because for a lot of these women it is a daily fight for survival. The economic adversities that they are exposed to because of the glaring injustice, subject millions of women and families to lives entrenched in poverty and with limited opportunities. COVID-19 has pushed women into darker spaces. Economic insufficiencies are getting aggravated, and the people at the lower end of the pay scale are feeling the effects stronger and harder.

Pay cuts, reduced wages and redundancies have prevented women from feeding their families, securing safe housing, and basic necessities like critical medical care. Education has been impacted with a growing fear it will permeate through generations subjecting them to poverty.

Unions need to be fighting for justice for their workers, collective bargain must be strengthened. Better representation of women in union leadership will be helpful in creating a uniform platform that ignores gender, race, and color, creating a fairer society.