Pandemic may be eroding women's hard-earned progress towards gender equality — Ibec

Ahead of today's webinar, the business group's social policy chief says women are being disproportionately impacted by the crisis

Almost a third of respondents to the Ibec survey said more women than men in their workforce requested unpaid leave to facilitate caring. See link to today's online event at the foot of this article. Picture: iStock

A new survey from business group IBEC confirms the growing concerns that the Covid pandemic has the potential to erode hard-earned progress in gender equity.

The survey, carried out in March, sought to examine the impact of the pandemic on women, and reveals that 20% of organisations had noticed a change in the position of women in their organisations over the previous 12 months, citing changes such as increased pressure and stress for women, childcare responsibilities, and requests from women for worktime flexibility to accommodate childcare or eldercare.