Low income individuals were more likely to contract the coronavirus and to die from it.[8] In both New York City and Barcelona, low income neighborhoods were disproportionately hit by coronavirus cases. Hypotheses for why this was the case included that poorer families were more likely to live in crowded housing and work in the low skill jobs, such as supermarkets and elder care, which were deemed essential during the crisis.[9][10] In the United States, millions of low-income people may lack access to health care due to being uninsuredorunderinsured.[11] Millions of Americans lost their health insurance after losing their jobs.[12][13][14] Many low income workers in service jobs became unemployed.[15]
The coronavirus pandemic was followed by a concern for a potential spike in suicides, exacerbated by social isolation due to quarantine and social-distancing guidelines, fear, and unemployment and financial factors.[16][17] Many countries reported an increase in domestic violence and intimate partner violence attributed to lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] Financial insecurity, stress, and uncertainty led to increased aggression at home, with abusers able to control large amounts of their victims' daily life.[19] United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for a domestic violence "ceasefire".[20]
The World Economic Forum published a report on the global gender gap in January 2020 that concludes gender parity will not be reached for 99.5 years. The report benchmarks 153 countries in four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The top-ranking country for parity is Iceland, and Albania, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, and Spain are the most improved. At least 35 countries have achieved gender parity in education, and 71 have closed at least 97% of the gap in health. Political empowerment remains poor—85 countries have never had a female head of state and women hold only 25% of all available positions, while eight countries have no women in government at all. Globally, only 55% of women (ages 15–64) are economically active, compared to 78% of men. 72 countries do not allow women to open bank accounts or obtain credit.[21]
Switzerland banned discrimination on the basis of sexuality based on a referendum, putting into effect a law previously introduced in 2018, that was subsequently blocked by the government that requested a referendum to be held on the matter first.[22]
The Trump Administration passed a law on 12 June 2020 removing protections against discrimination from LGBTQ people in terms of health care and health insurance in the United States.[25]
