Barmer publishes figures on Corona. It is striking that more and more women than men are submitting sick leave because of Corona. There are reasons.
Berlin – Never before have so many people been unable to work due to the corona virus as at the moment. This is the result of the evaluation of the Barmer Institute for Health System Research (in short: bifg) among the employed persons insured with Barmer. In the week from February 13 to February 19, 52,100 of the employees insured with Barmer were unable to work due to a Covid 19 infection, the health insurance company writes in a press release. For comparison: At the peak of the first wave, around 25,000 people entitled to sick pay were on sick leave. This corresponds to an increase of 108 percent.
Women are on sick leave more often than men because of Corona
According to Barmer’s annual evaluation, more women than men were on sick leave because of Corona in 2021. “Women work more often in social professions than men, for example in care,” explains Barmer’s CEO, Prof. Dr. Christopher Straub. “That is one reason why they are more likely to come into contact with and contract the coronavirus.”
In 2021, for example, an average of 0.33 percent of BARMER-insured employees in geriatric care were on sick leave because of Corona. In IT, on the other hand, where the majority of employees are still male, the corona-related sick leave was 0.06 percent. In the IT industry, home office is also largely possible, which explains the lower infection rate. Another reason for more corona infections in women is that they often take on the care of sick people in the family.
There are also regional differences in sick leave
There were also significant regional differences in the frequency of corona-related sick leave last year. Eastern German non-city states had the highest rates. In Saxony, for example, between 25 and 229 per 10,000 employees entitled to sick pay were on sick leave every week. In Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, only seven to 22 insured persons were on sick leave for every 10,000 persons entitled to sickness benefit.
“There is no single reason for the regional differences in corona sick leave,” comments Straub. Rather, numerous reasons are decisive to varying degrees, such as regionally different vaccination rates. Ultimately, however, the behavior of each individual remains the central factor. The population density of a region and job structures also play a role. There are regions with many industries that only allow little or no home office.
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