COVID-19 TO RENDER 31-M WOMEN JOBLESS, CUT $1-T IN WORLD GDP: CITI

Citi has warned that 31-million women worldwide would lose their jobs and the global gross domestic product (GDP) would see $1-trillion being knocked off.

In a story written by Saloni Sardana for Business Insider on May 25, 2020, analysts said that 220 million women globally work in sectors threatened by the virus, and that 31 million of those could lose their jobs during the pandemic. This figure does not include China, Sardana said, meaning that the real number, including the world's second largest economy, would likely be much higher. "Women's lesser status in the labour market leaves them more exposed and easier to lay off," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also warned in April.

Overall there are 44 million workers at risk of losing their jobs because of the pandemic, Citi said, with 31 million of these being women, and 13 million being men. The alarming analysis highlights how women are likely more exposed to the crippling effects of the pandemic. The 31 million female job losses will be across six sectors.

Global GDP was estimated to be $80.27 trillion in 2017, according to the CIA’s CIA’s World Factbook. Citi economists Dana Peterson and Catherone Mann said in a research note: "The greater vulnerability of women to job losses is due to the segmentation of female laborers into sectors that are the most negatively affected by coronavirus disruptions." #COVID19