Source: piquenewsmagazine.com
The ongoing pandemic has also placed a bigger mental health burden on women and people of colour, according to a recently released study
We often hear that COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate and anyone can fall victim to it. But that’s not entirely true – according to Statistics Canada, more women have contracted COVID-19 than men.
Canada does not collect racial demographics on the country’s COVID-19 victims, but other jurisdictions including the U.S. and U.K. have found racial disparities in those affected by the pandemic, with people of colour suffering disproportionately from the virus.
In fact, these disparities seem to have spread beyond just a physical impact but have bled into the business environment. In addition to its physical toll, the pandemic has placed a bigger mental health burden on women and people of colour. A recently released study from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) found that women and visible-minority business owners were more likely to say they were facing mental health challenges due to COVID-19.
According to the report, women were more likely to feel depressed at work than all business owners and 40% said it was affecting their ability to do their work compared to 31% for all business owners. Visible minority business owners were also more likely to feel depressed at work with 48% responding they felt depressed at least once a week compared to 39% for all business owners.
