Women are feeling the effects of Covid-19 restrictions more than men, research from the Central Statistics Office has revealed.
The number of women reporting a low satisfaction with life is more than double the rate it was in 2013, shooting from 15.1% to a staggering 36.6% last month.
More women (38.6%) than men (26.0%) reported feeling downhearted and depressed and admitted they were consuming more alcohol, junk food and smoking more.
Almost half of women said that they would like going back to their place of work when restrictions were lifted, compared to just one in three men.
Both men and women rated their overall life satisfaction lower in April 2020 than in 2013 when the country was experiencing the effects of the 2008 financial crisis.
Statistician Claire Burke, said: “A breakdown of the Social Impact of Covid-19 survey shows that more female respondents reported being extremely concerned about their own health, somebody else’s health and maintaining social ties than male respondents.
“For example, more than one in four women were extremely concerned about somebody else's health, compared to one in five men.
“The percentage of women who rated their overall life satisfaction as low in 2013 was 15.1%, with a similar percentage of men reporting the same (15.5%).
“Five years later (2018), when the economy was growing strongly, this had improved significantly with just 9.0% of women and 8.4% of men reporting their overall life satisfaction as low.
“The societal changes resulting from the Covid-19 crisis seems to be impacting more negatively on women’s well-being.
“The percentage of respondents reporting that they felt lonely, very nervous, downhearted or depressed was higher for women than for men.
“For example, for female respondents, almost four in ten (38.6%) reported that they felt downhearted or depressed at least some of the time in the four-week period prior to the interview compared with just over one in four (26.0%) of male respondents.”
