Women Lose Out In The Recovery From The Great Recession

America is inching towards recovery from the Great Recession. Women, however, aren't benefiting from it, a recent study by the the Pew Research Center reported. But why?

According to the findings, from the end of the recession in 2009 through May of 2011, men gained 768,000 jobs and lowered their unemployment rate to 9.5%, while women lost 218,000 and raised their unemployment rate by 0.2%.

That's a complete 180 from the employment trends during the recession itself, when men accounted for 5.4 million of the 7.5 million (or about 71%) jobs lost from the U.S. economy in total.

Dr. Linda Brodsky, MD and president of Expediting the Inevitable, an organization dedicated to revolutionizing the growth potential of the healthcare marketplace by better engaging women physicians, thinks it might have something to do with men still being perceived as the "chief breadwinners" of a household.

"A woman physician in my office had four children, one disabled, and was ready to back to work full time," she told the Huffington Post. "When she interviewed they said 'you're very qualified but your husband has a good job and there might be men who need this job more to support their families.''"

However, Brodsky was quick note the possibility of other causes.

"Since women lost fewer jobs during the recession, the results might be that men just have more jobs that they need to get back," she said.

The study overview makes it clear that there is no ready explanation for why the economic recovery has favored men, only that men have "most notably" made stronger advances than women in certain sectors. For example, women lost about 433,000 jobs in manufacturing, retail, trade and finance during the recession recovery, whereas men gained 253,000 jobs in those departments.

Another potential cause of the employment disparity might be the growing number of women entrepreneurs in the United States, before and even after the recession. An article from the Christian Science Monitor elaborates:

"Between 2002 and 2007, women created almost twice as many businesses as men, according to data from the Census Bureau. The number of women transitioning from the labor force to self-employment hit a two-decade low in 2007, just as the recession was about to hit, according to the Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, Mo., group devoted to entrepreneurship. By 2009, the rate was back to normal."

What would make the study more conclusive, Brodsky noted, would be if the salaries that men were hired with were indicated. Women generally still make about 77 cents on the dollar to men, and if men are accepting salaries at this "women's rate" Brodsky says it might not be a "gender thing" but simply a "numbers thing."

Comments

[CAELadyJane50]

09:05 PM on 07/16/2011

Whenever a recession begins that is when businesses prefer to hire women for less wages than men for higher wages. When the recession is almost over and employers are willing to give an increase in wages, that's when the men get hired instead of women. This has happened before. This is why it's better for women to be entrepreneurs and men to be employees.

[James L Houston]

11:44 AM on 07/16/2011

Remember when it was the mancession? Robert Reich said the stimulus shouldn't help just males? It was called a "burley stimulus" or a "macho stimulus" because it did shovel ready projects and infrastructure repair... Now those sectors of the economy are recovering and we must now be worried that women aren't recovering... as fast? Ummmm

[J R M]

05:02 PM on 07/15/2011

I expect that there is nothing nefarious here. Men were concentrated in areas that were hit first and are now starting to pick up a bit. Women were more concentrated in teaching and government jobs, which are still shrinking with the government budget issues.

[dimplesmile7]

03:07 PM on 07/15/2011

Discrimination is running rampart in the job market and right now nothing is being done about it. They are current discriminating against minorities and ageism. I guess gender is next.

[Ginger Rogue]

01:10 PM on 07/15/2011

That "men need the job more" is a misconception that's spreading quickly. What they forget is that women are often the family breadwinner as well. Or, if a woman does have a husband, do they inquire as to whether he still has a job? Probably not.

[french queen13]

05:34 AM on 07/16/2011

I doubt that misconception ever went away. It's been around for a very long time and is probably just more obvious now in the recession (I mean, employers feel free to be open about it).

[PitBull6]

11:54 AM on 07/18/2011

I doubt they inquire very often either way. That seemed like a strange anecdote to include in this story but I cannot imagine an employer asking, or a prospective employee volunteering, the status of their main squeeze's employment as a basis for employment.