The end of Women’s History Month and Equal Pay Day on March 31st is an opportunity to reflect on how the coronavirus affects women in untold ways.

Women comprise the majority of health and social care workers and are now on the front lines in confronting the virus. Mass school closings significantly affect women because they make up 77% of teachers and because mothers head 84% of single-parent households.

As they juggle schedules for caregiving responsibilities, women frequently have to patch together several part-time jobs which garner lower wages and fewer benefits. Women already make up the ranks of the lowest paying jobs - 70% of tipped restaurant workers are women. Many also work as cleaners, a benign-sounding job now made hazardous with higher risk of exposure.

Even before the crisis, workers in low-paying part-time and temporary work with no benefits or security, brought home less than $18,000 a year. In short, many women have few or no resources to weather any crisis, especially the drastic loss of income from the coronavirus.

The current crisis demonstrates how women’s work is vital to the functioning of our society. It is an opportunity to recognize how their work is woefully under-valued, under-appreciated and underpaid.

In time, this crisis will end, but the need for paid sick leave, equal pay policies, access to affordable and quality childcare, job training and closing the employment opportunity gap will continue. Future planning, funding and legislation should and must address these issues.

Donna Seymour

Potsdam