Women’s Work is, and always has been, “Essential” Work. It’s time to Value It.

By: Diane Cornman-Levy

Thousands of businesses across the United States have shut down their operations in response to COVID-19. Many of these businesses that have been deemed ‘not essential’ by the Department of Homeland Security are dominated by men such as the building trades.

Essential jobs are those that are too vital to be halted, even as cities and whole states are on lockdown. A majority of those jobs are held by women. In fact, one in three jobs held by women has been designated as essential according to a New York Times analysis of census data crossed with the federal government’s essential worker guidelines. More than half of these jobs are part of the “care workforce” including nurses, social workers, drugstore pharmacists, childcare workers and home health aides. The soldier on the front lines of the current national emergency is most likely a woman and most are nonwhite women

Read more here