Thanks to the recession, women are on the verge of overtaking men as the dominant demographic of the workforce! “We’ve pointed out before that that recession has disproportionately hurt men, who are more likely to work in cyclically sensitive industries like manufacturing and construction. Women, on the other hand, are overrepresented in more downturn-resistant sectors like education and health care. Casey B. Mulligan noted, for example, that for the first time in American history women are coming close to representing the majority of the national work force. It would of course be a bittersweet milestone, given that it comes primarily as a result of men’s layoffs.”
BUT: “So will women eventually edge into the majority? It’s hard to say. If the recession is nearing a close, as some economists argue, women may have lost the opportunity of taking over a majority of the labor force for at least the time being. After all, women’s job force share may not continue growing once the economy recovers and the job market improves.”
