T hough COVID-19 started as a public health issue, in the past month it has transformed into an economic one as well. Lawmakers must act now to protect both the health and economic well-being of workers, especially women. Typical gender roles leave women at a disproportionate risk during this crisis, exasperating existing economic, medical and social gender gaps. Women’s roles in the workforce place them at a greater risk of contracting the virus. According to the World Health Organization, women make up 67 percent of the world’s healthcare workforce in 104 countries, and in the United States, that number is 78 percent. Health care workers, especially nurses, nurse practitioners and medical assistants who are on the front lines of virus response, are highly exposed to the disease itself and in close proximity to other people. During the 2002 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic, more than half of the cases worldwide were women and 21 percent were health care workers. The high proportion of women in temporary and insecure positions also places them at a greater economic and medical disadvantage. Women are twice as likely as men to be employed part-time. In 2016, women made up 63.9 percent of the part-time workforce. Part- time workers are less likely to have employee benefits including paid family and sick leave and health insurance. These workers are also the first to be slashed during times of economic vulnerability, leaving many women without a steady income. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed on March 18 offers paid sick leave to these part-time workers, but offers unequal pay compensation and leaves out a majority of the workforce, including domestic workers. Women who make up the majority of unpaid caregivers and domestic workers, including childcare workers, have no safety net. These workers are either unemployed or face infection because they often take care of families, the elderly and sick people. Pregnant women are another extremely vulnerable population right now. During the SARS outbreak, it was noted that pregnant women with SARS were more likely to miscarry. But with limited data on the transmission of SARS and coronavirus, there is uncertainty and anxiety in the air. Staying home and quarantining is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of the virus. Families, then, are left with the decision of how to divide the labor at home. Women in dual-income households who are “poor, working in service jobs that cannot be done from home” will often bear the bulk of childcare responsibilities and stay home. The economic impact of the virus will hit women, a majority of service and part-time workers, harder. Julia Smith, a research associate at Simon Fraser University, said that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa greatly affected the economy but “men’s income returned to what they had made pre-outbreak faster than women’s income.” If there is anything to be learned from past epidemics like Ebola it’s that women will have a harder time bouncing back from this economic recession. Since President Donald Trump declared coronavirus a national emergency on March 13, the U.S. has worked quickly to pass the paid sick leave bill (even though this exempted millions of workers). But had the U.S. been better prepared, we could already be focusing on an equitable, gender-based response. More cities should already have paid sick leave and health insurance benefits for employees. Domestic and service workers should have labor protections already. Lack of employee benefits and protections are all public health risks. In a sense, women are at the center of this pandemic, yet do we really think our administration will address these gender-sensitive policy needs? Lawmakers cannot ignore gender needs anymore during this crisis. Instead, they should take it as an opportunity to challenge existing social dynamics and deeply entrenched gender roles. 4 — Monday, April 6, 2020 Opinion The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Alanna Berger Zack Blumberg Brittany Bowman Emily Considine Jess D’Agostino Jenny Gurung Cheryn Hong Krystal Hur Ethan Kessler Zoe Phillips Mary Rolfes Michael Russo Timothy Spurlin Miles Stephenson Joel Weiner Erin White ERIN WHITE Managing Editor Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Editor in Chief EMILY CONSIDINE AND MILES STEPHENSON Editorial Page Editors Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS JENNY GURUNG | COLUMN The need to address gender-sensitive policy during COVID-19 Jenny Gurung can be reached at jennygrg@umich.edu. FROM THE DAILY In response to the University’s housing emails O n March 17, students received an email from University of Michigan Housing titled “URGENT: Petition to Remain in Housing.” The email, asking students “who truly have no other alternatives” to submit a request to remain in student housing by 8 a.m. the next day or lose building access, drew fire for the short notice and for backtracking on the University’s previous statement that students would be allowed to stay in the dorms. Further, the information in the email was not communicated to faculty, leaving professors blindsided and oblivious to the stressful situations their students had been placed in. The following day, Housing sent an email apologizing for the confusion and clarified that students had indeed not been required to move out at 8 a.m. that day. They offered support for students moving out and outlined the procedure for those who chose to stay in the dorms. In these unprecedented times, we understand that no response on the part of the administration is perfect. Given how rapidly the situation changed with each new day, the University was forced to weigh the public health risks of leaving dorms open while accommodating students who were either unable to leave or had to coordinate arrangements in moving out. However, times of crisis call for clear and transparent communication. The array of emails and follow-up emails that students received from varying sources often failed to convey transparency and specificity in the University’s actions, creating confusion that could have been avoided had the administration simply been more clear and specific about their intentions in the original email. This undue stress and confusion only amplify students’ anxiety as they scramble to arrange flights, pack up belongings and adjust to online classes. Further, professors were left in the dark. Many had planned to carry on classes and exams during or soon after the time that students were moving out and were shocked and indignant that they, as professors, had received no information about this policy from the University. The multiple sources of information only added to the confusion as students received a number of emails regarding housing changes from Housing, the LSA Dean‘s Office and the Office of the Vice President of Student Life, making it difficult to discern the real authority on the matter. We believe that the confusion could be eliminated by creating a single, centralized source on behalf of the University administration to disseminate information regarding COVID- 19 updates and protocol, like U-M Public Affairs’ COVID-19 information website, and only releasing information from that source and email address. In addition, the University should create better interdepartmental communication systems to ensure moving forward that professors are aware of the information their students are receiving and able to accommodate accordingly. While the policies put in place were necessarily reactionary, reflecting the rapidly escalating nature of the situation, we believe that the rapid response failed to account for the precarious food and housing situations of many students and jeopardized their safety and well-being. The vague terminology of “students who truly have no other alternative” raises questions as to which students are included and excluded, particularly for students with unsafe home conditions. The policy thrusts these students into a situation that could compromise their mental health and safety. In attempting to account for these students, the Maize & Blue Cupboard remains open and the University has consolidated residential hall services to West Quad Residence Hall and South Quad Residence Hall and dining services to South Quad. The coronavirus has forced everyone, including students, faculty and University administrators to improvise and adjust in our current disorder. Though the University’s response has fallen short at times, we as students need to understand that the administration doesn’t have all the answers right now. Their actions reflect continued efforts to communicate with the student body and make accommodations without jeopardizing public health, namely by providing a partial refund for housing and meal plan expenses, keeping select dorms and dining halls open and offering free packing and storage services to students. In the end, no response that the University comes up with will be perfect and we should try to manage our reactions to each successive email that is released. However, this means we should learn from the shortcomings of the University’s initial response. Moving forward, the administration should reflect on students’ struggles in the COVID-19 pandemic in order to prepare better response protocols should future crises arise, and to make sure that communication from here on out is clear, accurate and widespread. In the end, no response that the University comes up with will be perfect. CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. SUBMIT TO SURVIVORS SPEAK The Opinion section has created a space in The Michigan Daily for first-person accounts of sexual assault and its corresponding personal, academic and legal implications. Submission information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/survivorsspeak2020.