Monday, December 5, 2011

Women leaving the labor force

A recent government survey found that unemployment rates for women improved to 7.8% from 8.0%, but that this might be attributed to the 438,000 women who left the labor force. In contrast, male unemployment also improved to 8.3% from 8.8%, with 65,000 male workers rejoining the labor force. While the data from this survey differs from an employer survey - which found that a gain in jobs was split evenly between men and women - it does demonstrate the effects of different type of labor markets for men and women.

Industries like construction, manufacturing and finance are generally male-dominated, and also the hardest-hit industries in terms of unemployment. Industries like education, health care and government are traditionally more female-dominant, but also industries more shielded from the economic downturn for unemployment. Therefore, women might have seen greater job losses, but males were concentrated in industries hardest hit by the economic downturn.

Lastly, this article proposes that the traditional model of female workers as the 'reserve worker supply' might be undermined by recent data. Women have historically entered the job market in good times to add  and left in the bad times, but that is being reversed. This information might also indicate that the husband in 2-income earning households is still the primary income earner if the wife is able to leave the labor force.

Source: Men best women in scramble for new jobs, CNN Money, December 2, 2011

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