Almost 40 countries where getting pregnant can get women fired: World Bank Chief Economist

World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart while discussing effects of COVID-19 has said that it has made it more difficult for women to escape poverty. She talked to Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, director of strategy and policy at the International Monetary Fund on Bloomberg Television, that there are still almost 40 countries where women can be fired from their job for getting pregnant. Carmen Reinhart said that the pandemic has affected the economy badly and it has hit the girls and women the most.

'Women not getting equal rights as men'

While speaking on International Women's Day, World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart cited a report of last year and said that for the first time in more than two decades, extreme poverty was expected to rise with a high share of women becoming poor. She also added that pandemic has contributed to an increase in violence against women and is reinforcing gender inequality in many countries. She said that women on average have three-quarters of the laws of men.

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Budgets should be made gender friendly

Carmen Reinhart said that laws for women have improved in some nations but many nations still have legal limits on economic opportunities for women. Ceyla Pazarbasioglu of the International Monetary Fund said it is very important to have a women's lens in policies. She said, “That’s what we are pushing in our surveillance, in our lending, in our analytical work and in our capacity development.” She said that countries should make their budgets gender-friendly and added that budgets should include policies for women. She said that that the informal sector which is housing many of the women employees, the policies should be targeted towards them. 

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