Economists Point To How Covid-19 Hits Women At Work Harder Than Men

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Maureen Foertsch McKinney

Published August 27, 2020 at 1:27 PM CDT

Economists Heidi Shierholz and Elizabeth Powers

Maureen McKinney interviews a pair of economists who've looked at how COVID-19 has affected women in the workplace.

For this week's Statewide, we interviewed Elizabeth Powers, an economist with the Institute of Government and Public Policy at the University of Illinois and Heidi Shierholz, an economist and policy director at the Washington, D.C,-based Economic Policy Institute. Powers was a member of former President George H.W. administration, while Shierholz served in former President Barack Obama's administration. They discussed the impact of COVID-19 on women in the workforce.

Illinois

Maureen Foertsch McKinney

Maureen Foertsch McKinney is the NPR Illinois News Editor and a lead editor of Illinois Issues' feature articles, working with freelance writers, and is curator of the Equity blog. Maureen joined the staff in 1998 as projects editor. Previously, she worked at three Illinois daily newspapers, most recently the suburban Chicago-based Daily Herald, where she served stints as an education reporter and copy editor. She graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's in journalism. She also has a master's degree in English from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

See stories by Maureen Foertsch McKinney