Wealth inequality has been a growing issue in America for decades, but the pandemic has pushed the wage gap to new extremes. New data from the Labor Department shows that all of the job losses in December were positions previously held by women, although those losses rebounded slightly in January. And as low-wage workers struggled to pay their bills, the wealth of the 1 percent grew. In 2020 world’s billionaires ended up nearly $2 trillion wealthier than they were at the start of the pandemic.
The ongoing employment crisis, which is closely aligned with a widespread caregiving crisis, has especially hurt the women of color who disproportionately work in restaurants, retail, education, health care, and other “essential” industries. These workers, who are often paid very low wages, rarely have the option of working remotely and trying to schedule their paid work around remote learning and other childcare responsibilities.
Find our last conversation about women leaving the workforce here.
We dig into the ballooning economic crisis that is accelerating inequality in America and talk with you about how this employment crisis is touching your life.
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