Men Comprise 82% Of People Laid Off In The Current Recession

[Rage for Order]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/business/06women.html?ref=business

With the recession on the brink of becoming the longest in the postwar era, a milestone may be at hand: Women are poised to surpass men on the nation’s payrolls, taking the majority for the first time in American history.

The proportion of women who are working has changed very little since the recession started. But a full 82 percent of the job losses have befallen men, who are heavily represented in distressed industries like manufacturing and construction. Women tend to be employed in areas like education and health care, which are less sensitive to economic ups and downs, and in jobs that allow more time for child care and other domestic work.

“Given how stark and concentrated the job losses are among men, and that women represented a high proportion of the labor force in the beginning of this recession, women are now bearing the burden — or the opportunity, one could say — of being breadwinners,” says Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress.

In recessions, the percentage of families supported by women tends to rise slightly, and it is expected to do so when this year’s numbers are tallied. As of November, women held 49.1 percent of thenation’s jobs, according to nonfarm payroll data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By another measure, including farm workers and the self-employed, women constituted 47.1 percent of the work force.

Women may be safer in their jobs, but tend to find it harder to support a family. For one thing, they work fewer overall hours than men. Women are much more likely to be in part-time jobs without health insurance or unemployment insurance. Even in full-time jobs, women earn 80 cents for each dollar of their male counterparts’ income, according to the government data.

much more at the link...

Seems like this may be a hidden cost of the layoff picture since women as a whole tend to earn less than men in similar jobs.

[eridani]

1. Can you say "low-paid service jobs"?

I knew you could!

[Breeze54]

2. Nope! I have 2 sons who made good money and are laid off...

They worked as CISCO line hangers.... made decent pay and both are recent veterans

My ex husband is a carpenter, a Vietnam Era veteran and he's also laid off...

I'm an IT worker and I'm also out of work...

the only person working, of all of us, is the youngest son....

[Lyric]

14. I'm pretty sure she meant that *women* are the ones in low-paid service jobs.

And since so many of those jobs are still intact, that's why this phenomenon is occurring.

[eridani]

17. I mean statistically. Whether or not you are a low-paid service worker

--that labor market is dominated by women.

[hologram]

3. What percentage

of the people who decided who would be laid off were men and what percentage women?

[Breeze54]

4. Women usually earn less and therefore companies usually keep them employed in a downturn. n/t

[hologram]

5. Nowhere I have ever worked

in the past 40 years have women made less than men doing the same job but that's mostly in service/health jobs. I think the pay disparities we often hear about are mainly in management positions and largely in upper management.

[Breeze54]

6. I disagree ! Women are still treated unfairly in pay, hours and benefits... low balled. n/t

[SharonAnn]

10. No, it happens at every level. There's always some way to "justify" it.

[hologram]

11. Here's the deal.

The vast majority of jobs are either publicly advertised as starting at a certain pay rate, or in the public domain at universities, hospitals, government jobs, etc. there are well-established pay scales which are readily available to prospective applicants/the public. The salaries for these jobs are not negotiable based on sex, age, or anything else. No matter who gets the job they are going to be paid at the advertised rate or on the established scale. It is mainly in private sector management and specifically upper management that you may find some positions for which the salary is negotiable and secret and in which there may be some wiggle room for discrimination based on whatever.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. You are right about parity in the vast majority of positions, but the reason for the difference

is more based on job and career choices these day. Its very clear and stark at the university level.

Women make up more than 50% of the students, but a very small fraction of the technical majors. The techies make very good money and liberal arts majors often get less than 1/2 of what techies get upon graduation. No one forces these students into any fields. They make their own choices.

[hologram]

13. In the context of the OP

that would seem to mean that it's the tech people who are being disproportionately laid off. I'm not so sure that is what is going on.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Not really, techies are a small percentage of the work force nation wide

[noamnety]

18. stats from the labor bureau

say you are wrong.

Even when balanced for career choices AND time away from the workforce for raising children, statistically, women are still paid significantly less than men for the same work.

[customerserviceguy]

9. Could it also be said

that non-union workers make less than unionized workers, and companies also favor keeping them during a downturn?

I can understand the rush to implement the Employee Free Choice Act, given that we finally have a majority in Congress as well as a sympathetic President. But anyone expecting that Act to do anything in the next couple of years is deluding themselves. The Act becomes usable when we have something closer to a full employment economy.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. Kick. Amazing stats.

[Digit]

8. I see the opposite

I am seeing more women laid off than men. As I have been told by bosses in the past, the men are the breadwinners for their families and need to keep their jobs. Yes, it is a very sexist thing to say.

They forget that I, like many women are either the breadwinners, or sole heads of households with children to support. Oh, and some unlucky ones have to support their SO's.

We need our friggin jobs back NOW!!!!

[JCMach1]

16. Building Trades and manufacturing... the longer this lasts though, women will catch up as firms

from other sectors bleed jobs...

[depakid]

19. Fitting

Stupid white men voted disproportionately for the policies that have now come back to hit them all hard. Trouble is, the majority of them will remain stupid- and fail to make the connection.