The Time is Now
On February 5th, the monthly jobs report was released. The unemployment rate fell by 0.4% to 6.3% in January, yet only 49,000 jobs were added. Almost 80% of those who stopped working or looking for work in January were women. Overall, the story is the same as it has been since I wrote about this for CTC in May: women, and particularly women of color, are hit the hardest. Not only is the work force gap becoming wider in the short term, it is the long term effects that are the most troubling.
Let’s take a look back at the December report for reference. According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), in December 2020, women lost a total of 196,000 jobs. This is more pronounced for women from minoritized communities. White men’s unemployment in December 2020 was 5.8%. For women it was 6.3%; Black women 8.4%; Latinas 9.1%; women with disabilities 11.4%. The jobless rate for Black women and Latinas is more than 1.7 times higher than pre-pandemic figures, and 4% higher for women with disabilities. Ready for the kicker? Right before the pandemic, for the first time EVER, women’s unemployment was actually lower than men’s. Those employment gains seem to be vanishing right in front of us, and they are not assured to reappear.
First, the numbers. In December 2020, almost 40% of women 16 and over had been out of work for at least six months. For Black women the number is 40.8%; 38.3% for Latinas; 44.0% for Asian women. One study found that those who had been out of work for six months or more and had relevant experience were less likely to be called back for a job than those with no relevant work experience who had not been unemployed as long. The persistence of women’s unemployment and underemployment makes it almost impossible for it to bounce back quickly. And more than involuntary unemployment and underemployment, are those who voluntarily dropped out of the labor force. Mostly, mothers.
As reported by NWLC, in September 2020, about 860,000 women left the labor force. What’s special about September you might be asking? Home schooling began. Mothers take on a disproportionate amount of household and childcare responsibilities, and this has been upped since the pandemic. A March 2019 Edison Research study of heterosexual, two-parent households reports:
“Of the 21 parenting tasks listed in the survey, including everything from making doctor’s appointments to organizing playdates, dads who co-parent reported that they are less likely than moms to be the primary person responsible for almost every task.”
This trend has persisted during the pandemic, because, duh. But the disproportionality has increased, as has the stress. Just last week, a Pew Research Center survey found that “moms are about twice as likely as dads to say they have a lot of these duties (36% vs. 16%).” They are also much more likely than men to say that balancing work and home has become harder. Again, these trends are not new, but the gap is wider and the consequences are more severe.
Remember that Edison Survey about the 21 duties? There was one parenting task dads reported taking on more than their partners. One. Curious what that one task is? It is preparing for children to attend college. Since white men continue to out-earn women, and specifically out-earn women of color, if someone has to homeschool, stay home with infants and toddlers, do household chores, book doctor visits, etc., and someone has to, well, earn enough money to get by AND plan for a future, guess who’s dropping out of the work force? While the economy will bounce back relatively quickly after the pandemic is under control, the labor force will not. Recent projections show the short and long-term impact of women’s voluntary and involuntary unemployment and underemployment. Others, like the United Nations, worry this could set back an entire generation of women. This is especially true for single mothers and mothers from minoritized communities.
To try and mitigate the long-term, potentially generational effects of the pandemic, businesses and corporations have pledged to have more flexible working hours, decrease travel, and allow for greater work-from-home flexibility. This is GREAT for a certain class of working mothers. Those who are already less likely to be negatively affected by the pandemic and build wealth for future generations of their family. So, basically White, college educated, upper-middle class, married, straight women. These are the women, though, who need the LEAST amount of support. We need real, equitable institutional support for all working women, but especially for working mothers. Help that targets the specific needs of those who are chronically unemployed or underemployed since before the pandemic. These include early access to the vaccine, subsidized child care, affordable insurance, better public schools, and a $15 minimum wage to name a few. These need to be rooted in equity, a commitment the Biden Administration has made, a commitment the party in control of both chambers of Congress have made.
Now is the time for bold, sweeping change. Research is clear that the policy window opens when there is a crisis. And when one policy passes and gains support, others are likely to follow. Now is the time. We owe it to the women who’s paid and unpaid labor literally keep our economy afloat. The longer we wait, the deeper the gender wealth gap will get. The deeper the racial wealth gap will get. Sit with this: If the 20% of working mothers in a recent survey who reported considering leaving the labor force in actually did, they would lose a total of $172.8 billion in wages. Now is the time to act. Now.
Author: Suzanne Chod