Wall Street Journalさんのインスタグラム写真 - (Wall Street JournalInstagram)「This year had begun well for Stefania Pala, who in January was offered her dream job at an interior-design store. When the pandemic struck and lockdowns started, the 32-year-old from Lecce in southern Italy was still in her trial period and the job disappeared. ⁠ She has struggled to find work ever since. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Italian attitudes are a big obstacle to her finding a job, she says: Prospective employers often ask her whether she plans to have children. “It has nothing to do with one’s ability. The problem here is the very condition of being a woman,” says Pala, pictured in the first photo.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ The economic shock from the pandemic has hit women harder than men across much of the Western world. Many of the lost jobs have been in service sectors with large female workforces, such as retail, restaurants and hospitality. Women have also had to shoulder the bulk of child care during school closures, forcing many working moms to stay home. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ In few major economies is this a bigger problem than in Italy, where female employment was already among the lowest in the West and where the employment gender gap is currently the widest in Europe. The labor-market consequences could outlast the pandemic, hurting many women’s long-term economic prospects and worsening gender inequality, economists warn.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ “The pandemic has made this situation even worse,“ said Pala’s friend, Simona Allegrino, 34, pictured in the second photo. She has been unemployed ever since she finished her maternity leave last January. An added challenge is that her local nursery school closes at lunchtime, after which she has to take care of her twin sons.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Read more at the link in our bio. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ 📷: Giovanni Cipriano for @wsjphotos」12月27日 0時02分