Nye undersøgelser viser, at kvinder uforholdsmæssigt mistede deres job og forlod arbejdsstyrken under recessionen i år 2020. Under recessionen mellem februar og april i år 2020 mistede mindst 13,4 millioner amerikanske kvinder deres job (svarende til 18% relativt til før pandemien) eller sagde op. Tilsvarende var raten over kvinder, der forlod den amerikanske arbejdsstyrke, højere end for mænd, hhv. 3,5 procentpoint for kvinder mod 3,1 procentpoint for mænd. Flere end 2,5 millioner kvinder er ikke længere i den amerikanske arbejdsstyrke, hovedsageligt på grund af COVID-19 (alle data er fra BLS).
Ved nogle foranstaltninger har kvinder også haft mindre fordel af det stærke opsving. På trods af de stærke jobgevinster de seneste kvartaler rapporterer BLS, at den kvindelige arbejdsmarkedsdeltagelsesrate kun har genvundet 40% af det samlede fald mod et 50% opsving for mænd.
Pimco lægger følgende til grund for den ulige fordeling:
- As a group, women have had to bear the brunt of additional household responsibilities resulting from disruptions in childcare. Surveys found that mothers are three times more likely to be responsible for most of the household labor (source: McKinsey), and that 23% of working mothers are unsatisfied with their work-life balance, versus 12% of working fathers. And one in five working mothers reported being worried that they would have to quit their jobs to take care of their children (source: KinderCare-Harris Poll and The Parent Confidence Report).
- Women are disproportionately represented in service sector jobs, which have suffered most from the economic restrictions to contain the virus spread. For instance, prior to the pandemic, women made up approximately 53% of leisure and hospitality sector jobs; however, they accounted for 54% of the job losses in these sectors. Similarly, they accounted for 63% of education sector jobs, but accounted for 67% of the jobs lost (source: BLS). Even in sectors where a majority of the jobs are held by men, including professional services, women accounted for the majority of the job losses.
- Women make up a high percentage of the workforce in several essential sectors, including healthcare and education, which bear more health-related risks of remaining at work. Women account for about 80% of healthcare jobs and 63% of education jobs (source: BLS). Meanwhile, they are underrepresented in professional services jobs (46%), which tend to be more easily adaptable to remote work. These statistics help explain why female job losses have been larger, but also highlight the impact that women dropping out of the labor force can have on the broader economy. Healthcare worker shortages have been a challenge throughout this crisis, so keeping women in the labor force is critical.
Læs hele artiklen her:
https://www.pimco.dk/en-dk/insights/blog/an-employment-priority-women-reentering-the-workforce-are-pivotal-to-us-economic-recovery
