Unemployment numbers indicate Oregon women are disproportionately affected by the pandemic

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Thousands of Oregonians have lost their jobs or been forced to reduce their hours due to COVID-19 but unemployment numbers indicate the burden of income loss disproportionately falls on women.

"Since the pandemic-related closures started in Oregon, we’ve seen that women’s unemployment rate in Oregon has been consistently 2-3 percentage points higher than men’s," Melanni Rosales, spokeswoman for the Oregon Employment Department, said in a written statement.

With schools moving to distance learning many parents have had to rearrange their schedules to accommodate for the hours their children are no longer in a brick-and-mortar school setting but the data suggests mothers may have been disproportionately affected.

Rosales noted that in September the unemployment rate was at 9.6 percent for women and 6.7 percent for men. She pointed out that this data also does not account for parents that may have left the workforce altogether to take care of children who are no longer in school.

"It’s critically important to note that the unemployment rate only captures women who’ve remained in the labor force," she said. "So, if you left a job or lost a job and haven’t actively looked for one in the past four weeks, or if you aren’t available or able to take a job if offered to you, you’re no longer counted as being in the labor force."

Amanda Murray is one such mother. She said there is no way she could continue to manage her pre-COVID work schedule while trying to make sure her special needs child receives the care he needs with schools closed.

"There are so many parents that are battling the same situation. A special needs kid needs more help and we're not getting help," she said.

Murray's 9-year old son has Tourettes Sensory Processing Disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder and Pica, a psychological disorder that causes one to crave and chew substances with no nutritional value.

"Ever since we've been distance learning, we have fits every day, his Tourettes has gotten a lot worse. We now have tics that we've never seen before," she said.

She said she is frustrated that the Three Rivers School District where her son is enrolled has not provided her with an Individualized Education Program that accommodates for distance learning.

"Just yesterday he started screaming at the tops of his lungs because he was frustrated, he couldn't get the help he needs," she said.

When contacted, the School District said it could not discuss the individual case. However, Murray said after interviewing with News 10, the school contacted her and scheduled a meeting to discuss her son's IEP and the potential for some in-person learning due to his special needs.

Murray said before the pandemic she was working over 40 hours a week and was the sole breadwinner of her family. When schools shut down she was forced to quit in order to take care of her son and her daughter.

She said she's looking for a job that will accommodate her scheduling needs but in the meantime, she is struggling to make ends meet.

"Christmas is coming up. We feel we are failing as a parent due to this. We are lucky in the sense we do have family support in the area but we should not have to depend on the help from them," she said.

According to the unemployment department, those in Murray's position should qualify for unemployment.

"Working parents who have had to reduce their hours or leave their jobs for child care reasons (as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) may be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance," Rosales said.

However, Murray said she tried to apply and was denied assistance.

"I was denied unemployment and I was denied other help because it's my choice to help him with education is what I was told," Murray said. "I have looked into wanting to get him into a new school I found at Wildlife Images, but with me not working because I have to help him at school, I can't afford that."

The Oregon Commission for Women, a government body that works to increase equity for women said this is not only affecting women's bottom line but also their ability to advance in the workplace.

"I personally have friends that declined a promotion because of the new responsibility (of childcare during the pandemic)," Oregon Commissioner for Women Dr. Doris Cancel-Tirado said. "Can we shift some of the hours to allow for school? No. We still have the expectation of an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m."

Rosales pointed out that Oregon's employment survey of households (which differentiated between male and female) has a relatively small sample thus data showing the ratio of Oregon women leaving the workplace in September is not a large enough sample to be accurate data. However, she said the state's trends appear to be following those nationally.

"What we can discern from the labor force data by gender in Oregon is a similar trend to the nation though: significantly more women than men have left Oregon’s labor force since the summer," she said. "Nationally, women left the labor force at four times the rate of men in September."

Cancel-Tirado was not surprised by this pattern. She urged citizens to reach out to their representatives about issues of equity and disproportionate impact to women in the workplace.

"This is not the only time that women are going to be affected disproportionally in terms of jobs," Cancel-Tirado said. "I think that is very important not only to reach out to the commission but the policymakers so we have policies in place that protect women in this type of setting."