“We should go ahead and call this a ‘she-cession.’”
— C. Nicole Mason, president and chief executive of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
The word “shecession” appeared in the The New York Times for the first time in its nearly 170 years of publishing over the weekend.
And with good reason: Of the 20.5 million jobs lost last month, women make up 55 percent of those now looking for work. Their unemployment rate is about 2 percent higher than that of men. Women of color fare the worst of all, with unemployment rates of Hispanic women at over 20 percent.
In the 2008 recession, women levied a minute advantage, as their presence in the workforce, percentage-wise, rose—causing some to refer to it as the “mancession.”
However, this time around, male-dominated industries like manufacturing and construction, which typically feel the brunt of an economic collapse, have fared well in comparison to industries like travel, leisure and hospitality—all of which were virtually halted by shelter-in-place orders across the country. Women, particularly women of color, make up much of these industries.
