WASHINGTON: One of the positive turns that the U.S. economy took during a decade-long recovery through 2019 was a steady rise in the share of women looking for work and working.
The coronavirus has seized back those gains, and sparked another debate over whether reduced participation will persist.Recessions typically fall hardest on racial and ethnic minorities, due to bias as well as a last-hired-first-fired dynamic. During economic expansions, job gains typically flow last to those groups, which means less seniority when downturns arrive.
The result: Not just lost jobs, but a departure from the labor force altogether that can recast demographics of who works and earns, who can buy a home, invest, or help children pay for college. The blow has fallen hardest on women of color. Since February, the number of Hispanic women in the U.S. labor force has fallen nearly 7 percent, the number of Black women declined 5.6per cent, and the number of white women by nearly 3per cent. That compares to a drop of just 1.7per cent for white men and less than 1per cent for Hispanic men. The drop for Black men was more than 4per cent.That question will determine the quality and breadth of the U.S.