The Release of Groundbreaking PCSW Report

The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women in Connecticut (the “PCSW”), a  bipartisan organization, is proud to announce the release of its Report entitled “The  Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Connecticut’s Women.” The Report presents the findings of the PCSW’s Statewide Data Collection Initiative, the only one of its kind, which collected thousands of pieces of data from Connecticut’s women to assess the impact of  COVID-19 on their economic security. 

Between October 5, 2020, and February 5, 2021, the PCSW conducted a written and electronic survey of Connecticut’s women, as well as ten focus groups around the state,  to assess the impact of COVID-19 in five areas: work and pay, housing and food security,  healthcare and health, personal safety, and education. Over 1,100 women across 174 zip codes in Connecticut took the survey or participated in the forums. The PCSW’s  Respondent Pool closely mirrors Connecticut’s demographics across the four important measures of race/ethnicity, age, household income level, and geography. Additionally, the Report’s data captures the “winter surge”, which the PCSW asserts is important to assess the cumulative effect of the pandemic on Connecticut women’s economic security. 

Among the 52-page Report’s key findings on the effect of COVID-19 on Connecticut’s  women are: 

26.5% were furloughed or lost their jobs 

66.1% of those with dependent children experienced an impairment of their ability to  work due to home demands (lack of childcare, children in remote school) 16.1% reported that their career advancement had been impaired 

68.5% reported that their educational progress had been negatively impacted 49.8% reported a negative mental health impact  

14.1% were in a domestic violence situation, which for 49.8% developed or got  worse due to COVID-19 

According to Tina Courpas, Executive Director of the PCSW, “There were many important take aways from the Report. In the area of work and pay, the effect of job losses, furloughs,  and career downshifts, which were disproportionately borne by women, are areas where the impacts will be felt long after there is some return to normalcy. For working women with  dependent children, it cannot be overemphasized that key drivers of this negative impact  were lack of childcare and the demands of children home from school.” According to  Senator Richard Blumenthal, a PCSW Advisory Board Member, "The numbers, statistics,  and stories you are sharing are important to our understanding of how heavily this pandemic has impacted women across the state of Connecticut. The pandemic has displaced women from the workforce at multiple rates compared to men. This unfairness is  not only bad for their families, it's also bad for our society and our economy." 

Other key findings of the report include the impact of the pandemic on Connecticut women’s educational progress, housing, and food security. The Report highlights that these impacts in many categories were felt disproportionately by women with annual household income levels of $35,000 or lower and by women of color. The Report has been disseminated to the Governor’s office, legislators, non-profits, service providers, employers,  women's groups, and citizens. The PCSW intends for the Report to be used widely to support legislation aimed at Connecticut’s economic recovery, and to support the work of many organizations across the state. According to Mary Lee Kiernan, CEO of the YWCA of  Greenwich and Board Chair of the PCSW, “The pandemic has exacerbated or created domestic violence situations for many of the clients that the YWCA serves. The Report is an invaluable source of Data to support and inform our work.”  

Contact the PCSW to discuss the DATA as it relates to your  organization