Men get lion's share of new jobs, women suffer most from public sector layoffs

(Chart by National Women's Law Center)

Remember all the what-does-it-mean-what-can-be-done-about-it hand-wringing over the "mancession," the fact men had lost a much higher percentage of jobs in the recession than women? And that women were rapidly heading toward parity in numbers in the labor market? Well, it's over. In fact, it's been over for quite some time.

Commenting on an analysis of the most recent monthly jobs report of the Bureau Labor Statistics by the National Women's Law Center, Joan Entmacher, the organization's vice president for Family Economic Security, said:

?Since the recovery officially began in June 2009, women have gained 43,000 net jobs, just three percent of the 1.4 million net jobs added to the economy during that period. But women have yet to see any improvement in their unemployment rate. ?Indeed, women?s unemployment increased slightly in December to 7.9 percent, up from 7.6 percent at the start of the recovery, while men?s unemployment continued to decline, falling to 8.0 percent in December 2011 from 9.9 percent at the start of the recovery. ?The job gains in 2011 are welcome news, but millions of women and men remain unemployed and in desperate need of a real recovery.?

The jobs picture for women was better in 2011 than it was for them during the recovery as a whole. Women gained 521,000 (32 percent) of the 1.6 million jobs added in 2011; since the start of the recovery in June 2009, women gained only three percent of the 1.4 million jobs added. In the private sector, women gained 643,000 (33 percent) of the 1.9 million jobs added in 2011; since the start of the recovery in June 2009, women gained 21 percent of the 2 million private sector jobs added. In the public sector, women lost 122,000 (44 percent) of the 280,000 public sector jobs lost in 2011. ?Since the start of the recovery, women lost 64 percent of the 585,000 public sector jobs lost.

The same thing happened after the 2001 recession. Men lost a higher proportion of jobs than women, but as the economy improved, they bridged the very temporary gender gap that the downturn had produced.

The recent public sector losses for women are especially telling. Women have taken two-thirds of the hits. Those lost jobs are more likely to have been better-paying union jobs than their private-sector counterparts. They have been heavily targeted by governments faced with revenue shortfalls caused by the recession and their failure to restructure taxes. However, ideology has played as big a role as economics, with right-wing politicians seeing the revenue crunch as a perfect opportunity to do what they've wanted to do for ages?weaken or demolish public sector unions, trim the work force and cut benefits of the workers who survive. That has hurt women big time.

Late last year, Entmacher said the reasons for men doing so much better than women in getting jobs since June 2009 is hard to ascertain: "It isn't as if male-dominated industries have suddenly and really rebounded." But she suspects that it has to do with the lingering belief going all the way back to the days of "Rosie the Riveter" that it's more important to put unemployed men back to work.

In the days after World War II, with millions of men under arms being demobilized and returning home, that view may have made sense, and most women may have been glad to give up their war-time jobs. But the culture has rather obviously changed a good deal since then. It's far from uncommon these days for the woman to bring in more income than her male partner, if she has one, and far more likely for her to be raising kids on her own, if she has any. If she does have a job, chances are great that she's working for less than a man with the same or a similar position. That's regardless of what field of endeavor she works in, and whether she has "just a job" or a career.

One thing for certain, tough economics times will continue for millions of men and women who previously had jobs and don't have them now. If the current rate of new job growth remained steady, it would take until July 2014 for the same number of Americans who were employed in December 2007 when the recession officially began to have jobs again. Over that period, the working-age population will have increased by 11 million.

The economy has not shown it is anywhere nearly capable of absorbing those newcomers. Unless baby boomers retire in equal numbers, a severe pinch is in the offing. Many baby boomers who have managed to hang onto their jobs cannot retire as early as they'd like for financial reasons, including the fact they are supporting jobless adult children living at home and aged parents who have moved in with them or nursing homes. Eventually, of course, they will retire, but the damage done by the Great Recession and the chronic problems that underlie it will continue to take its toll on both women and men unless some major economic restructuring occurs. And so far, the kind of restructuring that most gets talked about is the kind that will make things worse, not better.

Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/09/1052996/-Men-get-lions-share-of-new-jobs,-women-suffer-most-from-public-sectorlayoffs

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