These are unprecedented times. This global pandemic has forced schools to close, businesses to shutter, and people to quarantine. Gender, racial, and economic inequities that already existed in the United States are becoming magnified as we weather the twin health and economic crises facing the United States and the world. 

Women workers are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. Nearly 80 percent of healthcare workers and 83 percent of workers who provide social assistance, including child care and emergency services, are women. And women-dominated occupations, such as nurses, flight attendants, and personal care aides, are among the most vulnerable to getting sick and spreading it to others. 

Women are also in the position to suffer the most in an economic recession. Even in good times, women are the most economically vulnerable, comprising nearly 60 percent of workers in low-wage occupations. Low-paid women workers have very little in the way of savings, which means it is much harder for them to weather economic shocks, especially when they are likely to be supporting a number of dependents. 

Take action below to help protect vulnerable workers, learn what is at stake for women during the COVID crisis and imminent recession, and read the stories of women on the front lines.