The corona crisis has been blowing equality for women for years

Even before the corona, global equality between men and women was not well established. According to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation, the epidemic has caused even greater damage here. Accordingly, the 2020 Corona year pushed equality for women behind for decades.

In early 2019, the WEF expects that if trends remain the same, it will take 95 years to achieve equality. After the catastrophic improvements of the first corona year, it is now 135.6 years. Women continue to face obstacles and political participation in economic life. For many, staying with a family in their careers remains a challenge, the WEF report said.

Germany ranks one in the International Equality Index and is now 11th out of 156 countries. In 2006 the Federal Republic was still in 5th place.

Home and care are often left to women

According to the WEF study, infections were particularly prevalent in the occupations that affected women, as they were above average. In addition, home and child or senior care were tailored to suit women. That is why more investments are needed in the maintenance sector. Politicians need to ensure that men and women can carry out caregiving tasks equally. Women should have more training in the midst of guidelines to prevent discrimination in their careers and employment and promotion.

In the WEF analysis, Germany ranks worst on the index of equal pay for comparable work: 97th out of 156 countries. So the gap here is 38.6 percent. The average income of women in Germany is 30.2 percent lower than that of men.

France, Denmark and the United States are worse than Germany

The Federal Statistical Office was recently Data on the gap between men and women in wages and salaries Published. Accordingly, women in Germany earned an average of 18 percent less than men in 2020. The difference in income – the so-called gender pay gap – is the difference between the average gross hourly earnings. Uncorrected, this generally compares to the average income of all employees. However, the vast majority of the pay gap is narrow with direct pay discrimination, but women are more likely to work in low-paying occupations and occupations and less in executive positions.

According to the WEF, France (39 percent), Denmark (38 percent) and the United States (35 percent) perform worse than Germany in terms of equal pay. However, Sweden ranks best in the most developed countries, but even here, researchers calculate an income difference of 18 percent.

The authors see that Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Namibia and Rwanda are particularly advanced in terms of gender equality. Western Europe as a whole performed well in the study. According to the analysis, there is a deep gender gap in the Middle East and North Africa.