By Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, October 23, 2020
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its employment report for September, which showed that women have been choosing to leave the workforce in staggering numbers: while about two hundred and sixteen thousand men dropped out of the workforce that month, about four times that many women made the same decision. Though the figures for September are particularly stark, they are consistent with trends that have been recorded since March. Unlike most economic downturns, the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic has led to greater employment losses for women than for men. The unemployment crisis has been compounded by closures of schools and day-care centers, and the resulting caregiving burdens have fallen disproportionately on women.
I recently spoke by phone with Betsey Stevenson, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, whose work focusses on the economic issues facing women in the workforce. Stevenson also served on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, in the Obama Administration. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed why recessions usually cause greater unemployment rates among men, the economic and societal toll of inadequate child care, and what the past six months should teach us about paid family leave.
What do we know about how this economic calamity has impacted men and women differently?
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