Bianca Hartge-Hazelman* says the lipstick effect appears to be happening in Australia as COVID-19 continues to highlight many financial pain points facing women.
Australian retailer AdoreBeauty has reported a spike in online sales since mid-March as many women turn to quick beauty fixes like skin care products and packet hair dye to help them feel better about the current economic environment.
“Sales have increased in facemasks, candles, bath and skin care products which have seen the greatest spike,” said Adore Beauty executive director Kate Morris.
The lipstick effect is a theory that during periods of economic crisis, consumers are more willing to spend on life’s more affordable luxuries that make them feel good.
“Interestingly it’s not lipstick that’s top of everyone’s list probably because social isolation has kept people indoors,” says Morris.
The number of Australian women at risk of financial hardship is likely to climb the longer the pandemic continues and hurts business activity.
Australia Bureau of Statistics employment data shows that women have been hit hardest by the initial impact of COVID-19 and Government related shutdowns.
“While faced with an economic and social crisis, it appears that many consumers are giving themselves a ‘pick me up’ in terms of both physical and mental uplift,” says Pascale Helyar-Moray CEO of SuperRewards.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 related-money issues that women are telling us they’re facing because of the pandemic and we’re talking about them in our Women’s Money Movement group.
Job losses climbing
Industries that have been most affected by the Federal Government’s forced shut down and containment measures have largely tended to hire more women such as hospitality, retail and events.
Women represented 60 per cent of employees in these industries as they tend to appeal to many women as they cater better for family flexibility.
Less pay
Job losses equate to lost income and not everyone will be covered by Government assistance during this time.
In particular as women and younger Australians are more likely to be in casual employment, they may not qualify for the JobKeeper payment.
Less superannuation
Women’s super balances are already 30 per cent lower than men’s according to ABS data.
So, if we look at a case study of Joanne, who is 44-49 years old and has only $62,000 (the average for women) worth of super before the recent stock market losses.
She is already facing a retirement with inadequate savings given that a “comfortable retirement is said to equate to super savings of $500,000, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
If Joanne has withdrawn $10,000 or intends to withdraw $20,000 in total under the Government’s early release scheme, a third of her super will be gone and her long term financial security is insecure.
Fewer opportunities to immediately rebuild career
COVID-19 has hit many industries, particularly those that are female dominated, and it may take many businesses a long time before they recover and are able to start employing people again.
This may make it difficult for many people to find new employment, particularly those women who need extra job flexibility around caring for children.
We could see more women on Government benefits as a result or accepting jobs purely to make ends meet rather than to actually build on their careers.
Risk of unconscious bias hurting older women
Older and young women are being the most impacted by job losses and are at risk because they are more likely to work casually or part-time or in industries most affected by COVID-19.
In particular we know from previous economic downturns that the older a person is, that the more challenging it is for them to get back into the paid workforce.
Age or unconscious bias may be a limiting factor here.
Unpaid workload creates barrier to paid work
The amount of unpaid work performed by Australian women is increasing as a result of COVID-19.
The latest ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey shows that women were almost three times as likely as men to look after children full-time on their own.
Another study currently being conducted by the University of Melbourne has also found that women living in households with children are doing double the amount of unpaid work to men.
Unpaid work is considered one of the biggest barriers to increasing the number of women in the paid workforce.
*Bianca Hartge-Hazelman is a writer at Financy
This article first appeared at au.finance.yahoo.com
