Women were undoubtedly the hardest hit by the pandemic, as evidenced by national employment statistics. Women lost work as a result of either closure in industries where women were overrepresented in the workforce (such as low-wage hospitality, retail, or caregiving industries) or were forced to make the difficult decision of leaving the workforce to care for families; becoming teachers to remote-learning children and caregivers to ill or elderly family members.

This reality created a severe ripple effect, triggering increased stress, financial insecurity, and domestic violence.

Impact on Women

Women lost over 5.4 million jobs during the first ten months of the pandemic, with higher rates being experienced by Women of Color.5 6

Impact on Women

Impact on Women

The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice found that in the U.S., domestic violence incidents increased 8.1% after the imposition of shelter-in-place orders.7
Impact on Women

Impact on Women

The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline received a 16% increase in calls over the previous year, with text messages also skyrocketing to 936 in 2020 compared to 37 the year prior.8

Impact on Women

Impact on Women

National unemployment data from January 2021 indicates that Latinas had the highest unemployment rate (8.8%), followed by Black women (8.5%), Asian women (7.9%), and white women at 5.5%. 10 11

Impact on Women
Hispanic-Woman-Working
"With workplaces as the pandemic epicenter,
the workplace and worker protections must be the focus."

Address the
Eviction Crisis