Women hit harder by coronavirus pandemic: Rabobank

Women seem to suffer more under the coronavirus crisis than men. Men's prosperity improved this year, partly due to a better work-life balance, but that was not the case for women. They more often indicated that their social involvement and personal development decreased, Rabobank reported based on a study among over 10,000 Netherlands residents.

For participants of both genders, perceived health decreased. According to researcher Sjoerd Hardeman, this may be related to the direct effects of illness form the coronavirus, but also to the inability to exercise and delayed healthcare. "That means that the Netherlands is in worse shape on four of the eleven dimensions of broad prosperity than before the coronavirus pandemic," said Hardeman when announcing the results. The prosperity dimensions of happiness, social contacts and housing deteriorated last year, but remained stable this year.

Rabobank measures the broad prosperity in our country every year. In addition to the aforementioned aspects, the bank also looks at, for example, the environment and safety.

The general prosperity remained the same. The reduced health was compensated for by higher scores on income and job security. The latter is striking, according to Hardeman, because job security deteriorated last year. "However, last spring's unemployment increase did not continue, largely thanks to the government support packages," said Hardeman. The bank therefore said that it appears that the public support measures ensured that the overall general prosperity did not deteriorate. 

More research is needed to determine the cause of women's lower prosperity, said the bank. It does not seem to be due to the sector in which they work or the composition of their family. However, it is possible that men benefited more from working from home and that women at the same time struggled more with the friction in society during the pandemic.