The Wall Street Journal (Career Journal) recently posted an interview suggesting that women are more likely to experience difficulties with job retention, promotion, and transition during a recession than are their male counterparts.
The interview suggested that the high cost of childcare and commuting has a disproportionate affect on women, cutting their real wages below the differential that already exists. (On average, women with children earn $0.76 for every $1.00 earned by men; women without children are likely to earn close to $0.90 compared to their male counterparts).
Certainly economic downturns exacerbate the factors affecting the most vulnerable in the workforce, e.g. working mothers, fathers who are primary caregivers, as well as Boomers who are caring for disabled family members. The prevalence of cases related to family responsibilities discrimination prompted the EEOC to issue guidelines for employers in May 2007:
“These EEOC
family responsibility guidelines condemn stereotypical perceptions of
employees, sex-based stereotypes of working women and pregnant women,
and discrimination against working fathers. The EEOC
also makes it clear that an employer’s “benevolent” stereotyping, such
as assuming a mother would not want a promotion if it meant moving to
another city, still has adverse effects and may be illegal under Title
VII.”
Clearly, the recession affects all of us; to paraphrase George Orwell, it may affect some of us more than others. What is your experience or opinion?
