Women’s fight for parity in the workforce has been a long one. Since the 1840’s women have been battling to break the invisible glass ceiling that has long since loomed overhead, seeking equal rights, equal pay and equal opportunity for the past 181 years (Women’s Rights Museum). Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has served a severe setback to women in the workforce. The service sector, which provides more jobs to females than males, was most severely hit (i.e. hotel, leisure & hospitality, etc.) according to American Progress. Moreover, the women are reported to have lost 5.4 million jobs out of the total 10.6 million job losses (Bureau of Labor). While these numbers appear to be almost an even split between men and women, the matter of grave concern is that many of these households impacted may have been living off of one income; the single mom. A study on population trends in America published by PRB stipulates that 56% of our population between the ages of 25-44 have children and 19% of them are single-parent homes.
For women, the struggle of maintaining the work life balance may serve to be the greatest barrier preventing them from returning to the workforce. A survey reported on Pew Research reveals that women’s perception of whether or not they should be working full time fell from 51% in 2019 to 44% in 2020; the belief that they should not work at all increased from 19% in 2019 to 29% in 2020; and the belief that they should not even work part time increased from 30% in 2019 to 29% in 2020. This may be due, in part, to mothers who feel it necessary to remain at home to help care for children and elderly family members who have become ill as the virus courses through our communities. Consequently, some households have decided to return to a more traditional style with one spouse working and the other remaining at home.
How this pandemic will affect women in the workforce long-term is yet to be seen. A poll reported in A Catalyst for Change: COVID-19’s Impact on Women in CRE, a recent Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) webinar, stated that 50% of women in the workforce have had a sudden shift in career priorities since March of 2020 and 74% of women have experienced a shift in their personal priorities. There are currently 10.9 million open positions waiting to be filled; it’s not likely finding a job will be the problem (Bureau of Labor). However finding one that will allow the flexibility desired might be the bigger issue. Flexibility in the workplace has drastically increased in desirability since work from home (WFH) was initiated due to COVID. Now, 94% of white-collar respondents who took part in a Deloitte survey, said they would benefit from flexible workplace offerings and 34% said it would help with maintaining their work life balance.
Currently, San Antonio ranks among the top five cities for the most women owned businesses in the United States, according to the CDC. Since the start of 2020 we have seen a rise in new businesses registered with the SBA, averaging about 1.3 million a quarter. Could we presume that some are turning to self-employment options and launching their own startup businesses to find the necessary workplace flexibility desired? While being a small business owner is by no means easy, maybe it and flexibility in the workplace will help women to maintain work life balance and remain in the workforce. Keep up the great work San Antonio, let’s make it to number one!