<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It has become common knowledge that the pandemic and
\nthe ensuing restrictions have even to a greater extent affected the already
\nvulnerable categories. A case in point is made of the people and the children
\nliving in the underprivileged rural regions. All this time, the burden on
\nwomen’s shoulders has been heavier than before. Women are subject to payment
\ninequality, anyway, let alone the fact that women take a double shift in the
\nhousehold. A recent survey carried by the FRAMES market research company
\nhighlighted the fact that seven of ten women have responded that the pandemic did
\naffect their way of life. 65% of those women believe they have been affected by
\nthe isolation imposed by restrictions. We spoke to company representative
\nAdrian Negrescu, who gave us details on the other parameters included in the
\nsurvey. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adrian Negrescu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
58% of the women responded that
\nworking from home was more like a burden for them all this time, since nobody
\nwas that much prepared for working from home. We did not have computers; we did
\nnot have video cameras. Moreover, doing your job while at home, in a very small
\napartment, with the family, with the children close by, that makes focusing
\ndifficult, with the possibility of being efficient for work being no less
\ndifficult. It’s interesting that a mere 26% of the women responded that
\nteleworking was something positive. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the rural areas but also in other underprivileged
\nregions, the lockdown did not bring teleworking with it, yet it brought
\nincreased economic insecurity instead, as well as psychological uncertainty.
\nFILIA Center is an organization focusing on the protection of women’s rights. FILIA
\nhas monitored the situation of women at the time of the pandemic. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
FILIA’s general manager, Andreea Rusu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As regards women, with whom we work
\nin rural areas, they had no choice other than returning to the job they had
\nabroad, or they had no more opportunities to be daily wage earners. They had to
\nstay at home with their children, who could not go to school any more. .Also,
\ntheir partners or husbands could not go to work either as, and we know that all
\ntoo well, many people in the rural regions do not work on a labor contract or
\nwork on a fixed-term contract. (…) So the possibility for them to buy hygiene
\nor food products, that was much more complicated than before. At national level,
\nthere are surveys revealing that when we had the state of emergency, two thirds
\nof those who asked for unemployment benefits were women. Which points to the
\nfact that, whenever a sanitary crisis occurs, it is also an economic or social
\ncrisis, with the women being the first to suffer because of that. (…) If
\nchildren no longer go to school or if they have relatives who fall ill, women
\nare the ones who tend to those people, so they no longer have time to function
\non the labor market and also look after their families. Which means that the
\ncondition of women has become even more precarious, money-wise, making them
\neven more dependent on their partners.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Actually, there are cases when even the relationship
\nwomen had with their husbands or their partners has been severely put to the
\ntest, in the last year. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adrian Negrescu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
64% of the women responded that
\nstaying at home enabled them to get to know their partners better. Why? Before
\nthe pandemic-generated crisis, we know all too well that men but also women
\nwere busy with their jobs, from morning till evening. They usually met up in
\nthe evening and at weekends. Their interaction was somewhat limited, whereas
\nworking and living in the same environment round the clock, they got to notice
\nthings they had not been that keen on, before, which influenced the way the
\npartners perceived each other. It was something that united some of them, while
\nfor other people, things went completely wrong (…) It is the reason why we had
\nso many divorces in 2020, while in 2021, such a trend is ongoing. Romanians
\nfile for divorce much more than before the pandemic, against the backdrop of
\nthe crisis-caused problems, against the backdrop of disputes and differences of
\nperception between men and women.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The pandemic also took its toll on the relationship
\nmothers had with their children, given that official education was to a great
\nextent performed from home, a home that all of a sudden became school, office,
\nand home. Nevertheless, in spite of all hardships, for some of the women,
\nhaving the chance to get closer to their little children was beneficial. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adrian
\nNegrescu:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women who were already
\nmothers got closer to the world of children even more. Children worked online,
\nand dis their school duties from home. Parents and children spent more time together
\nthan before the pandemic. As for some of the mothers, they practically
\ndiscovered their children, they discovered things about their children that
\nthey hadn’t noticed before, otherwise, they had very little on their hands for
\nthat (…) In another move, we discovered that 54%of the childless women who participated in
\nour survey say they would like to get pregnant even under the difficult
\npandemic-generated conditions. Which leads us into thinking that women
\ndiscovered their wish to become mothers to a greater extent. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In another development, the research carried by the
\nFILIA center has revealed the fact that extra help wouldn’t have done any harm to
\nanyone. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Andreea Rusu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women who found it hard to work from home,
\nnear their children, had to be offered an alternative. An alternative should
\nhave existed for them. There were various forms of aid offered by the
\nauthorities (such as the possibility to be put on furlough), but that was not
\nenough. A great many women who responded to our survey mentioned the fact that
\nthey had no choice other than working at night or that they opted for a sick
\nleave since they couldn’t cope with their home duties. For this reason, stress
\nhas increased for women during the pandemic and the workload became greater,
\nwhile for a great many of them it was very hard to strike a balance between the
\nprivate and the professional life. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Healthcare was another reason for concern, while the
\naccess to healthcare services was also made difficult, since the COVID-19 cases
\nwere the top priority. Every cloud has a silver lining, so the pandemic
\nhighlighted the importance of prevention, something which has been neglected by
\nmost Romanians, women and men. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Adrian Negrescu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Women have become increasingly careful
\nabout their health. Which is a good thing. Interesting to note is the fact that
\nbefore the pandemic, 61% of them responded they went to the doctor’s when they
\nhad to, 21% responded they went to the doctor’s only once a year, while a mere
\n11% had their quarterly medical check-ups. Now, in 2021, the well-being has
\nbecome a top priority. 83% of the respondents believe that is.. the main priority in 2021. Against the
\nbackdrop of the pandemic, women were more interested in going to the doctor’s
\nto check if the problems they may have are different from the problems they
\nknew about already. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We have so far presented a string of problems related
\nto the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s sad to admit that the reported domestic violence
\nacross the EU has also been on the rise, especially during lockdown.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The perks and pitfalls of teleworking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":142636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43847,43848,29225,32751,43844,31697,35291],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-143799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-burden","tag-checkup","tag-healthcare","tag-medical","tag-remote","tag-women","tag-working"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n