From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog
MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org

As we limp along in what passes for an economic "recovery", the numbers show that the barely discernible uptick in employment is benefiting only half the workforce. Men's employment has begun to increase in recent months, but women have continued to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs in that time. The story of the "mancession" has turned out to be premature and overblown, and is now seriously outdated.

Aside from the interplay between the recession, unemployment and gender, one thing hasn't changed. Women with children consistently earn less than other women and men who are fathers. Women's Enews compares employment data for men and women in "'Mancession' Focus Masks Women's Real Losses", and reaches a depressing conclusion: "Recession or no, when a woman has children, the difference between male and female wages turns into a chasm."

The article states that in the early days of the current recession, men's levels of unemployment rose sharper and faster than women's because the manufacturing and construction sectors were the first ones hit. After decades of women entering the workforce and a concerted effort in non-traditional job training, these sectors are still mostly male. Employed women seemed somewhat insulated in the early stages of the turndown. Their jobs remain largely in the health, education, and service sectors, which were less affected at first. This discrepancy lay at the foundation of the "mancession" stories that flooded the media. Now, however, the story line has shifted, but the mainstream news outlets seem to have lost interest.

Women will be the long-term losers in the recession. The jobs women held on to were generally lower paid and likely lacking benefits. As the recession dug deeper, women's unemployment rate started climbing as falling tax revenue required state and local governments to cut back on spending. As women make up the majority of those performing public sector jobs, and those depending on state services, many families found the mother out of work just as sources of public support dried up, a double whammy of a setback.

So, the "mancession" stories become obsolete and turn out to be an unusual blip on the economic radar. What remains is gender-based pay inequality, and the unavoidable truth that in this country, the "mommy tax" persists in good times and bad, no matter what job sector is hurt first or recovers fastest.

Happy Mother's Day.

'Til next time,
Your (Wo)Man in Washington

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