Although men have lost more jobs than women over a longer timeframe, they have gained slightly more jobs than women, who are still struggling, according to new research from the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Between December 2007 and September 2010, women lost 2.7 million jobs, and by June 2011, only 11 percent those jobs have been regained. Women experienced the recession's job loss later than men; however, their recovery has been slower with weaker results, the research finds.
While men faced 33 months of near consecutive job loss before the recession even began, women saw 23 months of near consecutive job loss, which started five months after the recession hit. The size and length of consecutive job loss for both men and women has not been seen since the 1930's Great Depression.
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As of June 2011, men have experienced 12 months of consecutive job growth, though women only saw eight months of job growth. Since the recession first struck, men have recovered 25 percent of the jobs they lost.
"Men and women still work largely in different places in the labor market," says Dr. Heidi Hartmann, president of IWPR and a labor economist. "The slower growth for women, in part, reflects the past year's job losses for women at the state and local government level. We can expect women to continue to experience jobs loss as state and local governments continue to face revenue shortfalls due to the slow recovery from the recession."
In most industries, including integrated sectors like retail and business services, men are attaining jobs relative to women.
"Women and men often hold different jobs even in integrated industries — men sell cars and building supplies, and women sell clothing, cosmetics and other lower-cost items," Hartmann says. "Men may be getting some jobs in health care, but they are not moving into female-dominated health occupations, such as nursing, in large numbers. Of course, if employment opportunities were equal, we would likely see less sex segregation in the labor market than we do."
"Discrimination should not be ruled out as a reason for women's higher share of layoffs and slower hiring in nearly every industry," says Dr. Barbara Gault, vice president and executive director of IWPR. "We know women earn less in the same jobs and tend to work in lower paying jobs while men get the better pay. It is possible that, since this recession was widely trumpeted by the media as a 'mancession,' employers are now favoring men in hiring."
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