The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women relative to men: A conservation of resources perspective

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on women relative to men. While more men than women are dying of COVID-19 (Centers for Disease Control, 2020a), there is a general consensus that the lasting economic and health effects will negatively affect women as opposed to men (Azcona et al, 2020). In this article, I examine the effects of COVID-19 on women from a Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989) perspective. Herein, I show that women were already in a resource loss position relative to men prior to COVID-19 by examining various types of object, personal characteristic, condition, and energy resources. Then, I draw from multiple datasets and reports to show that COVID-19 has put women in an even greater resource loss position relative to men and caution against the resource loss spiral that is occurring as a result, placing progress towards gender equality in jeopardy for years to come.