The Real Reason Behind The “Man-Cession”

Economists have called it a “man-cession” and a “she-covery”, but these are just two less-than-catchy terms for the same thing: the fact that women have bounced back from the recession more quickly than men.

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According to AP, women in the US have now recovered all the jobs they lost during the recession, while men are still 2.1 million short.

One reason for this gender gap may be that female-dominated sectors have been hiring more quickly than male-driven sectors.

Retail, education and hospitality have been able to bounce back quickly, while industries such as construction and manufacturing have been slower to grow. This is good news for women, right? Not so fast, according to economist Heidi Shierholz. Many of those jobs that have sprung up since the recession officially ended in 2009 have been lower-paying positions – in other words, jobs traditionally held by women. Women also continue to occupy fewer jobs on the whole, and earn less in the positions they do hold.

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So while this is a time to celebrate the resilience of women in the workplace, it’s also crucial to recognise that we still have some way to go toward equality.
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