Women-led SMBs saw more closures during pandemic globally: Facebook

San Francisco, Oct 20 : Stressing that women have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic globally, Facebook on Tuesday said female-led small and medium businesses (SMBs) were more likely than male-led SMBs to report closures taking into account factors like size of business, sector and geography.
Nearly 23 per cent of all female business leaders said they spent six hours or more per day on domestic responsibilities compared to only 11 per cent of men, according to the fourth edition of Facebook’s ‘Global State of Small Business Report’.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone — but not everyone equally. Women are more likely to have extensive caring responsibilities, lose their jobs or have pay cuts and feel overwhelmed, stressed or anxious,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook.
Nearly 24 per cent of female business leaders compared to 18 per cent of male business leaders identified “caring for household members” as an area for further policy support, according to the survey of 25,000 SMBs across more than 50 countries.
“Huge gender gaps at home and in business — as well as in access to education, healthcare, technology, etc — have been a bitter truth for as long as anyone can remember, so it should not come as a surprise that they should exist now,” Sandberg said in a statement.
The gender inequality was also observed at home.