Economy & Labor Archives

Child Care Workers Weigh COVID-19 Risks: “I Don’t Want to Die.”

Over the course of her 12-year career, child care provider Kyra Swenson has caught pneumonia three times. The 35-year-old teacher who, until earlier this year, watched over seven one-year-olds in the burnt orange walled Chipmunk…

by Jessica Washington

Coronavirus child care pinch in U.S. poses threat to economic gains of working women

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Most days, Zora Pannell works from her dining room table, sitting in front of her computer, turning off the video on Zoom calls to nurse her one-year-old daughter, Savannah. Pannell has balanced…

by Jonnelle Marte, Rachel Dissell

This piece was published in partnership between Reuters and The Fuller Project.

The Brutality of Brazil’s Pandemic Call Centers

Call centers are a mainstay of the Brazilian economy—and a growing menace to its workers.

by Jill Langlois

This story was originally published in Foreign Policy.

Seeking a decent life for domestic workers

As the head of the National Domestic Workers Council of Kudheiha, a trade union that advocates for Kenyan workers’ rights, she is the first point of contact for women’s pleas across the country and beyond.

by Louise Donovan

This article was originally published in The Daily Nation.

Public Comment Ends for Proposed Changes that Eliminate Gender-Based Asylum

Trump Administration’s proposed asylum changes could end protection for women and girls fleeing domestic violence. The public comment period ends today. As the United States was busy battling the invisible enemy of the coronavirus, the Trump…

by Erica Hellerstein

Laid Off and Locked Up: Virus Traps Domestic Workers in Arab States

When the nine African women lost their jobs as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia because of the coronavirus lockdown, the agency that had recruited them stuffed them in a bare room with a few thin…

by Ben Hubbard, Louise Donovan

This article was originally published in The New York Times.

Lose Income or Risk Your Child’s Health at Daycare? The Impossible Choice Low-Income Parents Face in Wisconsin

When 19-year old Milwaukee native Lenesha Barr discovered her six-month-old son, LaShaun, tested positive for coronavirus in April, she panicked. “There’s a risk that he might die from this,” says Barr, a cook at Wendy’s on unpaid…

by Jessica Washington

This Financial Coaching Pilot is Helping Cash-Strapped Women During COVID-19

How do you make empowered decisions on a topic you know little about? People are asking themselves that question a lot during this pandemic, but it applies to everyday uncertainties as well. A big one is…

by Malcolm Burnley

This article was originally published in The Philadelphia Citizen .

‘They Came to Kill the Mothers.’ After a Devastating Attack on a Kabul Maternity Ward, Afghan Women Face Increased Dangers

An attack on a Kabul maternity ward comes at a time when the future of women’s health efforts in Afghanistan is already complicated.

by Sophia Jones

This article was originally published in TIME.

COVID-19 Crisis Cost Women Millions More Jobs Than Men

Women outnumbered men in coronavirus-related job losses by an estimated 2.1 million, The Fuller Project has found in an analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment report released Friday. Women, who make up…

by Sarah L. Ryley

Federal Government Needs to Change How it Releases Unemployment Data

In the sweeping economic crisis fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, women and people of color are being hit particularly hard. Industries that disproportionately employ them — restaurant, hospitality, and services — were among the first…

by Susan Smith Richardson

This article was originally published in The Boston Globe.

Coronavirus Shutdowns Make Women the Majority of Unemployment Seekers in States Across U.S.

Women filed the majority of new unemployment claims in the weeks after their governors closed schools and workplaces to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

by Sarah Ryley, Jessica Washington

Imagine Online School in a Language You Don’t Understand

As COVID-19 shifts classrooms online, remote schooling poses a special challenge for families who are not fluent in English.

by Rikha Sharma Rani

This article was originally published in The New York Times.

‘Grammie’s Taking Food to Other People’: A Trucker Keeps Trucking

Ingrid Brown loves the peace of the night, especially these days. When the sun sets, it’s just her and the road, her truck lights illuminating the highway stretching out ahead. The quiet is “like a…

by Sophia Jones

This article was originally published in The New York Times.

‘The Reality Is, It’s Incredibly Hard’

Shelly Hughes’s typical day starts at 9 p.m. She’s used to not wanting to get out of bed and go to work, but now the feeling is much stronger. Her son, home from college because…

by Bryce Covert

This article was originally published in The Atlantic.

Kenya’s Labor Market Wasn’t Made for a Pandemic

NAIROBI—For the past week, every morning, Akonya Shimeseru wakes up in her single-room home that she shares with her two children in Ongata Rongai, a town on the outskirts of Nairobi.

by April Zhu, Louise Donovan

This article was originally published in Foreign Policy.

Breaking: Some States Show Alarming Spike in Women’s Share of Unemployment Claims

Statistics obtained by The Fuller Project from several states show that the share of people who filed new unemployment claims who were women during the last two weeks of March surged from an estimated 13…

by Sarah Ryley

Why the Coronavirus Outbreak Could Hit Women Hardest

Women disproportionately hold jobs in industries with poor protections.

by Xanthe Scharff

This article was originally published in TIME.

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