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Why recession is a setback for women in the workforce

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
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We have been in a recession since February 2020.
Interesting article FYI.

“Women have been bearing the brunt of the pandemic's economic impact, said Shelly Banjo at Bloomberg Businessweek. Forget the smiling photos on social media of "moms baking bread and crafting with their kids between Zoom meetings." The reality is that throughout the crisis women have been "losing jobs at higher rates than men, represent a greater proportion of hourly workers that don't have paid sick leave, and are shouldering most of the additional housework and child-care duties."


In two-earner couples, women are more likely to leave their jobs to handle the child care; many are being forced to "scale back their career ambitions, leave the workforce, or sacrifice their sleep and mental health." Women risk giving back a decade of gains in the workplace. "This pandemic is forcing women 10 steps back," says Ashley Reckdenwald, a New Jersey physician's assistant who was planning to switch jobs when the pandemic hit and is now staying home with her children instead.

The way this recession has affected women will have far-reaching consequences for any rebound, said Sarah Chaney and Lauren Weber at The Wall Street Journal. Women make up "77 percent of workers in occupations that require close personal contact and cannot easily be done remotely." While other recent recessions have been what economist Stefania Albanesi calls "mancessions," this one has looked very different; 55 percent of the jobs lost in April had been held by women.

In other recessions, women have taken jobs when their husbands have lost them. But now there are no such replacement jobs to be had. That's why, Albanesi says, "we can expect a much bigger drop in consumption and income for households than we do during a normal recession."

More likely to lose jobs now, women will probably face a slower recovery, said Elisa Martinuzzi at Bloomberg. Unfairly, "crises tend to reinforce the idea that men are responsible for putting bread on the table whereas women take care of the family."

Women juggling child-care responsibilities will face a disadvantage getting back into the workforce, said Patricia Cohen and Tiffany Hsu at The New York Times. With fewer "hours logged," those who still have jobs will find it harder to get promoted. But some economists think that "the increased pressure on families could — over the long term — force structural and cultural changes" such as greater child-care options and more flexible work arrangements that may ultimately benefit women.

One small early sign of a bright spot: Economists studying the coronavirus outbreak have found that men who are able to work from home — an increasingly common situation — "do about 50 percent more child care."

 
Thanks for sharing!

I will add a personal anecdote that supports one point in the article... one of my favorite former employees is a woman who is married, with two young kids. She and her husband both have professional, white collar jobs.

When COVID started, they both started working remotely from home. At one point she told me she was having trouble attending work meetings, because she was responsible to care for their kids all day (ages 6 & 3), because daycares and schools had been closed. Knowing her husband was also working from home, I asked why he wasn't helping, because both their careers are important. Sounds like he just expected her to do it, and she sort of accepted that.

Fast forward a few weeks, and her husband was laid off (unfortunately). She was still working full-time, so I asked if he had started helping with the childcare. And he had not. She said he spent most of his days on the couch or gaming on his phone. Nice.

She is extremely unhappy. My personal take is there were ongoing issues in the relationship, which the COVID situation has amplified.

I guess this is an extreme example, but supports the article's premise that in some relationships, women are expected to magically absorb the extra domestic work. Which I find unfair and sexist.

Anne
 
I think this is only going to get worse when Sept comes around and schools are either not opening or opening partially with kids coming in on alternating days. Some more "lucky" women will be forced to make the decision to stay home with the kids in order to continue their education, while others will have no choice because they don't have the luxury to give up their job financially. I'm not even sure how they'll be able to continue educating their children if schools are not open fully.
 
Many of my female colleagues are doing child care while trying to WFH while their husbands WFH with no distractions. I’ve asked a few why and the answers have been along the lines of “his job is more important.” In reality, that isn’t the case but his job pays more, so is more important to the family. Others of us are picking up the slack. Family should come first, no question, but they don’t have less important jobs according to their own organization and colleagues. It’s a shame things aren’t 50/50 for so many on the home front.
 
I was talking to my neighbor yesterday (we both worked in the same office prior to the shutdown, her FIL is my boss) and I was asking her why she wasn't being given work from home. We were actually both promised work and never got any. We could easily do work from home, they even gave me a computer on our last day.

She told me that because the state was encouraging employers to have employees work from home he became defiant. He felt like he was being told what to do and didn't appreciate that so because of that neither of us are making any money. You believe that crap? Talk about a God complex!

I'm sure he is not the only boss like this and as a result we as women will be even further behind.
 
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I was talking to my neighbor yesterday (we both worked in the same office prior to the shutdown, her FIL is my boss) and I was asking her why she wasn't being given work from home. We were actually both promised work and never got any. We could easily do work from home, they even gave me a computer on our last day.

She told me that because the state was encouraging employers to have employees work from home he became defiant. He felt like he was being told what to do and didn't appreciate that so because of that neither of us are making any money. You believe that crap? Talk about a God complex!

I'm sure he is not the only boss like this and as a result we as women with children will be even further behind.

Men and their egos....................That thing between their legs is the real problem.
A woman would be ultimately thinking of others. Men never do.
 
Men and their egos....................That thing between their legs is the real problem.
A woman would be ultimately thinking of others. Men never do.

I just could not believe what she was telling me! I haven't filed for unemployment because I was only employed three weeks and didn't qualify. I found out recently there is some federal program I can apply to because we have kids at home to care for and the money will be retroactive to March. Best believe I am going for that since it looks like my job is now dead.
 
I just could not believe what she was telling me! I haven't filed for unemployment because I was only employed three weeks and didn't qualify. I found out recently there is some federal program I can apply to because we have kids at home to care for and the money will be retroactive to March. Best believe I am going for that since it looks like my job is now dead.

I hope you can get into that program.
Rare is the man who thinks three steps ahead about other people's needs.
 
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