By Lananh Nguyen, Bloomberg Wealth, January 22, 2021
The pandemic has been tough on working women — even those with high incomes.
A UBS Group AG survey found that 61% of affluent U.S. women believe the Covid-19 outbreak is hurting their careers, while about 40% said the pandemic has put pay raises and promotions on hold as they worked less to help their kids with school. And one in four respondents said they’ve delayed retirement plans or considered leaving the workforce completely.
“Covid definitely set women back,” Paula Polito, divisional vice chairman at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in an interview. “Whether it’s their earnings capabilities, raises and promotions, money earned during that period, delay in their retirement plans,” womens’ careers are being hurt as they shoulder a bigger domestic workload, she said.
The UBS survey echoes a broader economic trend: Women, especially those in the age group most likely to have young children, are dropping out of the job market at the fastest pace since the height of the pandemic as many schools and child-care centers remain closed.
