By Taylor Crumpton
A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that many women in the United States are struggling in the labor market, especially young women ages 16 to 19.
Before the recession, the unemployment rate for all women was relatively low, at 4.5%, yet the rate varied between different groups of women, as the report shows. In 2007, women ages 16 to 19 had the highest unemployment rate out of all the age groups examined. Black women and girls in that age range were unemployed at more than twice the rate of white women and girls in the same age range. Asian and Hispanic women and girls ages 16 to 19 experienced similar rates of unemployment, and both rates were higher than those for white women. During the Great Recession, which lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, the unemployment rate for all women increased significantly, and in particular for those in the 16 to 19 age range. When examining the rate change from 2007 to 2009, only black women ages 20 to 24 had an increase in their unemployment rate that was higher than the increase for their counterparts ages 16 to 19. Hispanic and black women ages 25 to 39 had larger increases in their unemployment rate than white and Asian women in the same age group.
