Ellevest: How Healthy Will Women Be Financially After All This?

By Sallie Krawcheck

28 April 2020

Can I fret for a minute?

I’m worried sick about the financial health of women coming out of this pandemic.

Women went into the downturn with fewer financial resources than men. The “gender wealth gap” is just 32 cents to a man’s dollar, much worse — and frankly, much more meaningful — than the more commonly cited 82-cents-to-the-dollar gender pay gap.

It may be early days, but women are losing jobs at a greater rate than men during this pandemic, even though women (particularly women of color) make up a greater percentage of essential workers who are on the front lines.

For those women who are able to work from home, there is some indication that women’s productivity is being hit harder than men’s: In academia, men are submitting 50% more scholarly papers than before quarantine, while women are submitting fewer. Looks like traditional gender roles may be following families into quarantine.

I’m also worried about women entrepreneurs.

Before the pandemic, one could make the argument that women business owners weren’t making enough progress on starting companies and getting them funded, but we were making progress nonetheless. Women-owned businesses have been on the rise for years. Last year saw more $1 billion “unicorn” start-ups led by women than ever before. There was a mini-boom in women entrepreneurs on magazine covers.

Read the full article on Ellevest.