Economic slowdown affects employment rates for women
Increases in enemployment a reminder of 2001 recession, job numbers show a decrease in consumer demand
Tony Pugh
Issue date: 9/15/08 Section: Money/Health
WASHINGTON (MCT) - A sharp monthly rise in unemployment for women could be a sign that the economic slowdown has begun to hit working women with a force not seen since the 2001 recession.
When the unemployment rate for women went from 4.6 percent in July to 5.3 percent in August, it was the largest one-month spike in the jobless rate for women in more than 33 years.
Black women were hit even harder, as their unemployment rate jumped 21 percent, from 7.5 percent in July to 9.1 percent in August.
Among single mothers and women with families, unemployment climbed to 9.6 percent in August - the highest level in 15 years.
By themselves, the figures provide only a one-month snapshot of labor-market activity and may be merely an aberration in the business cycle. But the increases are a reminder of the 2001 recession, which was the first in decades to see men and women lose jobs on an almost equal basis.
If the economic slump continues to echo the 2001 recession, the effect on working women only will worsen, according to a recent report by the Joint Economic Committee, a panel that includes Democratic and Republican members of Congress and studies U.S. economic issues.
Kay Carey of Chicago is living that very scenario. An administrative assistant for a state social-services contractor, Carey was laid off in July when her department was phased out.
"I've never been laid off before. I go to work when I'm sick. I go to work when I'm tired, so it's kind of hard for me, but I haven't broken," she said.
The August jobs numbers may reflect softening consumer demand - in particular among women, said Vicky Lovell, acting research director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington. She noted that from July to August, nearly 11,000 jobs were lost at food and beverage stores, which typically employ many women.
"So as women consumers also feel the economic constrictions, they're cutting back on their spending," Lovell said.
About 43 percent of all working women earn half or more of their family's income, said Anne Ladky, executive director of Women Employed, a national women's advocacy group based in Chicago. And since many women work part-time, seasonally and in low-wage, high-turnover jobs, they often have a harder time qualifying for unemployment benefits, Ladky said.
However, as more women entered the workforce - and into male-dominated industries such as manufacturing - they became much more vulnerable to layoffs, job displacements, wage cuts and other vagaries of economic downturns.
Joan Entmacher, vice president for family economic security at the National Women's Law Center agreed.
"This year's job losses - compounded by soaring prices for food, energy, child care and health care -- mean that women are even more at risk."
When the unemployment rate for women went from 4.6 percent in July to 5.3 percent in August, it was the largest one-month spike in the jobless rate for women in more than 33 years.
Black women were hit even harder, as their unemployment rate jumped 21 percent, from 7.5 percent in July to 9.1 percent in August.
Among single mothers and women with families, unemployment climbed to 9.6 percent in August - the highest level in 15 years.
By themselves, the figures provide only a one-month snapshot of labor-market activity and may be merely an aberration in the business cycle. But the increases are a reminder of the 2001 recession, which was the first in decades to see men and women lose jobs on an almost equal basis.
If the economic slump continues to echo the 2001 recession, the effect on working women only will worsen, according to a recent report by the Joint Economic Committee, a panel that includes Democratic and Republican members of Congress and studies U.S. economic issues.
Kay Carey of Chicago is living that very scenario. An administrative assistant for a state social-services contractor, Carey was laid off in July when her department was phased out.
"I've never been laid off before. I go to work when I'm sick. I go to work when I'm tired, so it's kind of hard for me, but I haven't broken," she said.
The August jobs numbers may reflect softening consumer demand - in particular among women, said Vicky Lovell, acting research director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington. She noted that from July to August, nearly 11,000 jobs were lost at food and beverage stores, which typically employ many women.
"So as women consumers also feel the economic constrictions, they're cutting back on their spending," Lovell said.
About 43 percent of all working women earn half or more of their family's income, said Anne Ladky, executive director of Women Employed, a national women's advocacy group based in Chicago. And since many women work part-time, seasonally and in low-wage, high-turnover jobs, they often have a harder time qualifying for unemployment benefits, Ladky said.
However, as more women entered the workforce - and into male-dominated industries such as manufacturing - they became much more vulnerable to layoffs, job displacements, wage cuts and other vagaries of economic downturns.
Joan Entmacher, vice president for family economic security at the National Women's Law Center agreed.
"This year's job losses - compounded by soaring prices for food, energy, child care and health care -- mean that women are even more at risk."
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