COVID has revealed what the government think about the work of women and the care economy

Recently it was revealed that the UK government has denied financial assistance to 71% of working mothers who stopped work to provide childcare. Not only is this a slap in the face to these women, and the steps taken in recent decades towards gender equality, but it is also yet another reminder of the extent to which the care economy is undervalued in our society.

From these uncompensated mothers, to underpaid nurses being given applause as a substitute to a payrise, the so-called ‘boys club’ of Boris Johnson’s government has not been subtle in telling the public how it sees the work of women and those working in the female-dominated care economy. Of course it isn’t exactly news that Johnson’s not a leading feminist, despite his claims otherwise, but the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the full extent of his feelings in ways unseen before now.

From childcare, to nursing, to care for the elderly, jobs thought of as traditionally feminine have been made to bear the brunt of the pandemic. The 2010s was a decade of enormous cuts to the public sector, with pay-freezes leading to real-term losses in income to nurses, carers, and others working in the care economy. Now, these overworked healthcare professional have been expected to work in conditions that have shocking levels of mental health issues, with critical care units reporting almost 50% of staff developing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, or depression; the same report found 20% of ICU nurses have contemplated self-harm or suicide. These figures, alongside the aforementioned denial of assistance to working mothers, makes a sharp contrast in comparison to £16.5bn extra allocated to the defence budget, which is generally seen as the world leaders’ equivalent of a pissing contest.

The fact that the government is so obviously prioritising ‘macho’ aspects of the economy, instead of those that are in most dire need of assistance, is a grim but unsurprising reminder of the sexism still prevelant in British politics. It shows that ‘Building Back Better’ needs to be not only about economic and environmental revival, but also ensure that gender-based justice and other forms of social reform are at the forefront of post-COVID economic spending.