[IN-PERSON & ONLINE] The Future of Gender Equality Three Years into the Global Pandemic
What’s Happening, What We’re Learning, and What We Need to Do to Advance Gender Equality
Event
New America requires all staff and visitors to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This means all individuals must have two initial vaccinations plus two booster doses. One day before the event, you will be required to complete the registration process via Envoy by verifying your vaccination information. Should you not meet the vaccination requirements, we invite you to attend virtually.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns shuttered schools and child care facilities—and public policy and business practices failed to help—millions of mothers, particularly those of color, were forced out of paid work. Women’s labor force participation fell to its lowest rate in decades. Mothers who could hang on to paid work reported taking on more housework, homeschooling, and child care responsibilities than their partners. Many experts predicted gender equality would be set back by generations. Has it been?
As we near the third anniversary of the global pandemic shutdowns, join New America’s Better Life Lab and the Council on Contemporary Families in person or virtually for this hybrid event. We’ll present new research on how the pandemic upended gender equality, highlight some surprising silver linings, and outline the hard-won lessons on what we need to do to advance the future.
Follow the conversation online using #genderequality and by following @BetterLifeLab on Twitter.
Opening Presentation
- Dan Carlson, Associate Professor of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah
- Richard Petts, Professor of Sociology at Ball State University
Fireside Chat
- Better Life Lab Director Brigid Schulte and Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna on why he includes investing in family-supportive policies like paid leave and universal child care in his new Economic Patriotism Agenda.
Video Montage
- A variety of people share with Better Life Lab Staff Writer Rebecca Gale how the pandemic changed the gender equality and division of labor in their families: what happened, what lasted, and how they feel about the shifts.
Panel Discussion
- Chanda Causer, Executive Director of Main Street Alliance
- Julie Kashen, Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice, The Century Foundation
- Ivette Lagual, medical assistant and mother of three
- Sophia Mitchell, Policy Attorney, First Shift Justice Project
- Vicki Shabo, Better Life Lab Senior Fellow, Paid Leave Policy and Strategy (moderator)