During the 18-month recession that ended in June 2009, men lost far more jobs than women.
But since the recovery began, the tables have turned and women have fared worse, largely because of public sector cutbacks. As governors continue to trim spending to balance budgets, more layoffs are on the way, and women-dominated fields such as teaching, nursing, and home health care are vulnerable. Females make up the majority of state and local union workers.
Women lost 72 percent of 378,000 government posts cut between July 2009 and March 2010, according to the Labor Dept. When private sector gains are included, women had a net loss of 212,000 jobs between July 2009 and last month.
Now as the private sector ramps up, the public sector—and local government especially—continues to shed jobs. This year will be "the toughest year yet for local governments," Moody's Investors Service said in a Mar. 16 report. Local government has the highest concentration of female workers of the three government levels, at 62 percent. Females hold 57 percent of all government jobs, Labor Dept. data show.
Some of the biggest hits are in public education. Women made up about 76 percent of teachers in the 2007-08 school year, the latest available figures from the Education Dept. Government is "taking a wrecking ball to what have traditionally been female-dominated professions," says Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, April 11, 2011
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