SALT LAKE CITY – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, new research has shown that women in Utah suffer from burnout more than they feel hope. It is because income fell in some industries and hours increased.
The data from the Utah Women & Leadership Project was recently released as the pandemic has been raging for over a year, bringing death, economic crises and mental health problems to residents.
“We need to do specific things in our communities to create hope and reduce the feeling of burnout,” explains Susan Madsen, founder and director of the UWLP. “Because our burnout is higher than our hope at the moment.”
A total of 3,542 Utah women responded to the survey, surpassing the original target of 2,000 respondents. Tuesday’s report is the first of several upcoming briefings on the impact of the pandemic on women living in the Bijenkorf state.
The study aims to gauge where Utah stands in comparison to national trends that showed that women in America suffered disproportionate impacts from the pandemic compared to men, forcing them out of the workforce in greater numbers; the phenomenon is called the pink recession.
While Madsen expected Utah to follow national trends, she said it’s important to study specific areas and get information about what’s happening in local communities.
“Knowing exactly where we are in the state of Utah is so much better than just knowing what’s going on in general (in the country),” she explained.
While Utah reflected some of the same national trends, the state stood out in other areas.
“We’re the same in many ways, but we’re different in other ways,” Madsen said, pointing to the great economy that has preserved the Beehive State.
The data varied by industry, showing that the percentage of women reporting a wage cut at 5.1% was lowest for those working in the construction industry. About 13.6% in construction said their hours were increasing.
Other industries were affected inversely, with 25% of people in the hospitality and tourism industries saying their wages had fallen and 4.4% their hours had increased. In total, 27% in the industry reported their income declined and 12% said their hours were increasing.
“Since a reduction in wages and an increase in work hours could lead to increased mental and emotional stress, these data were summarized together,” the researchers explained in the letter.
On average, those who worked in the hospitality industry saw a decrease in income, but also an increase in working hours, with about 26% reporting a decrease in income and 29% an increase in the number of hours.
“In terms of the emotions that can result from a lower income and more working hours, the respondents indicated that they had burnout at levels greater than hopes in all industries, except for trade, transportation and utilities, where they are equal, ”researchers wrote. “Utah women as a whole reported being burned out, and at the same time they have ‘some’ hope for the future.”
Day-care
Many women between the ages of 30 and 49 reported leaving the labor market to care for children who were unable to attend school or childcare due to the pandemic. Madsen said companies tend to address childcare issues, but noted that resolving these barriers doesn’t necessarily mean building a daycare center on the property.
Even by connecting workers to childcare resources, these issues can be addressed and women wishing to work can resume their careers.
“Successful companies are going to shake things up and they already have, and some of the best companies are really implementing this (flexible) policy,” Madsen said. “Find out what your employees need, do some research, collect data, analyze your data, and just make changes you need to move things forward; it’s really not rocket science, changing policies within companies can happen pretty quickly.” “
Domestic violence
The survey also pointed to a disturbing discovery: 9% of women living in Utah said they had experienced domestic violence at home since the start of the pandemic. For Latino and Hispanic women, that number has risen to 11%, versus 8.7% of white women who thought the same.
“Many of the women who struggle the most haven’t taken the time to fill out (the survey),” Madsen added. “In fact, that’s a lot of people in our sample, but we know that percentage is probably much, much higher.”
The data points to a trend first reported in March 2020, when police agencies, including the Salt Lake City Police Department, said they had seen an increase in domestic violence in the first weeks of closures related to the coronavirus .
Madsen says it’s crucial to connect victims of domestic violence with the right resources, such as the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, YWCA Utah, South Valley Services, and the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
“We need more resources in the state of Utah, but we have some solid foundational resources,” Madsen said. “ The problem is, a lot of people in domestic violence situations don’t actually even know what to do because they don’t want to admit that’s what’s going on, they don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to. need it most actually need people around them to say, ‘Hey, can you read this report that actually defines what domestic violence is?’
Raising awareness of the problem itself, educating individuals about the signs of violence at home, and letting people know that there are groups that can provide assistance is one of the most important things the state can do to address the problem, Madsen noted. .
Moving forward
What can state residents do now that data is available? Madsen said it’s pretty simple: implement better practices to address these issues. For example, companies can do the research and immediately look at how their business practices can be changed to better serve the women in their workforce, Madsen said.
“Those are interviews for me tomorrow,” she said. “If they got this letter, companies could have the talks about exactly that.”
It is important for state and local leaders to take action and look for ways to solve the problems faced by residents in local areas.
Madsen said county and city leaders reached out to their group during the project to create data based on the respondents’ locations to establish a baseline of where each area is now, hoping for problems in the future. future. There were differences in experiences based on where women lived in Utah. For example, those living in Washington County reported slightly more hope than burnout, while all other counties in the state saw an increase in burnout and a decrease in hope.
Solutions like Governor Spencer Cox’s recently implemented adult return program affected by the economic toll of the pandemic are a great way to address the issues exposed by COVID-19, she added. Cox’s executive order aims to remove barriers many may face when trying to return to work after suffering from the pandemic’s ongoing economic constraints.
“The purpose of a return program is to help experienced adults return to work without starting at the bottom of the career ladder,” said Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson when the program was announced last week. “Diversity and life experience are valuable to us and should be irrelevant to pay and opportunities in the workplace.”
Looking ahead, implementing more programs like this can really help the state develop and address some of the pandemic issues that could have a lasting impact on the state in the coming years, Madsen said.
“If you understand the research and research that’s to come and then put those programs together, they can all work together to really move and change things,” she said.