Self-Isolation Support Grant: equality impact assessment

Women

Available evidence illustrates that women have been disproportionately affected by the social and economic impacts of Covid-19, with these negative impacts being particularly acute among young women, women in low-income households, disabled women, BME women, lone mothers and those with caring responsibilities.

Women were almost twice as likely as men to say that the support they received from their employer to take care of their wellbeing (for example sick pay, reduced workload, online social activities with colleagues) had decreased since the first lockdown (17% of women compared to 9% of men)^[13].

Women who are unpaid carers are more likely to be in less secure, lower paid work or to be unemployed. Under Section 58 of the 2008 Public Health Act, carers who suffer loss as a result of the person they care for being asked to stay at home (such as parents) would ordinarily be entitled to compensation. The Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-Isolation) (Scotland) Act 2022 suspends the duty on health boards to provide compensation in these circumstances, meaning that payment of compensation is at the discretion of health boards instead. The Act is due to expire on 31 October 2022.

From figures provided by local authorities, covering from March 2021 to August 2022, 58% of SISG applicants were women. During this timeframe the proportion of applications that were from women increased. In March 2021, 50% of applicants were women, and by April 2022 this had increased to 62% of applicants. The proportion who were women then increased further to 70% of applicants by August 2022.

Although the available data does not indicate a change in the overall upward trend, the proportion of applicants who were women appears to have increased more rapidly since 1 May 2022 when changes to the grant were brought in. Those recent increases in the proportion of applicants who were women could potentially be explained by the ongoing routine testing of the health and care professions, which are more likely to employ women in low incomes roles.