As families get ready to celebrate mothers this Mother鈥檚 Day with most COVID-19 pandemic related public health restrictions lifted, one 91亚色 motherhood expert says the pandemic has acted as a beacon to expose longstanding cracks in systems of caregiving, women鈥檚 rights and gender equality.
With the pandemic in its sixth wave, we are seeing the full extent of what mothers have lost and the real costs of the pandemic on them economically, culturally, socially and psychologically, says Professor of the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women鈥檚 Studies.
Citing a recent study by that reveals women were more likely to lose their jobs, did more unpaid care work and suffered worse during the pandemic, she says: 鈥淎s we recover from the pandemic, while it is important to recognize their labour, it is also crucial that public, social, medical and workplace policies that support and empower mothers are improved.
鈥淲hat mothers want for this Mother鈥檚 Day is this recognition, as they continue this necessary labour to allow all of us to heal and recover.鈥
According to O鈥橰eilly, conversations and actions toward empowered social change are only possible with a matricentric approach that recognizes and supports the crucial work mothers did as frontline workers to keep families functioning throughout the pandemic and as we begin to 鈥渞eturn to normal.鈥
O鈥橰eilly is a key organizer of a three-day global conference 鈥溾 from May 5 to 7.
鈥淐ombining multidisciplinary and intersectional perspectives, we will examine the impact of the pandemic on mothers鈥 well-being, and care and wage labour in the context of employment, schooling, resettlement and family relationships,鈥 O鈥橰eilly notes.
As the title suggests, the conference will bring together scholars, practitioners, and activists to explore the impact of the pandemic on mothers and families around the world while considering strategies for the post-COVID climb-out.
Originally published in .