Even during the sideways to down rate for women’s participation in the two decades up to February 2020, women gained market share of employment, with their percentage rising from 46.4% in January 2020, up to 47.2% at the pandemic watershed moment. Which makes the developments of the last few years all the more noteworthy. There has never been a period of time during the history of the employed data series that the employment of men out ran employment by women by more than a few hundred thousand over a year or two, let alone two million, as has been the case since the pandemic trough.
One of the labor market dilemmas of recent years has been the lack of workers to fill open jobs. Clearly a key part of the problem is female employment. Therefore, the barriers to employment for women is a barrier for the labour market writ large. Solving for one goes a long way to solving both.
Childcare as an impediment to women entering the workforce is not a new problem, but it has become more apparent since the pandemic. Investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company recently produced a report that stressed the importance of childcare for increasing participation of women in the workforce. The cost of childcare, they say “… is currently a major headwind that will likely
require a major overhaul.”. This is hardly news to the millions of people, predominantly
women, because, to state the obvious, the responsibility of childcare falls to them, who are not employed because the cost of childcare is prohibitive for many. Fortune magazine writer Megan Leonhardt says “Millions of Americans— mostly women—grapple with the financial breaking point of childcare…Around 4.5 million Americans remained unemployed in January, because they were caring for children, not in
school or daycare.”. A report using data from the job hunt company Indeed reveals that 34% of unemployed women, aged 25 to 54 years, were not searching for employment in the middle of last year because of concerns about childcare.
The cost is only one of the problems with the childcare situation; availability is another, with one likely driving the other. Childcare employment remains below pre-COVID levels, a shortfall of 47,000 jobs in the industry.
It is hard to understand how the shortage of workers situation can be righted if the solution does not come from more women being able to participate in the labour market. It is equally hard for me to understand how women will be able to seek employment until the story of childcare has a happy ending.
Lou Brienis Strategist / Knowledge Manager at DRW Trading in Chicago. Lou has been at DRW Trading since 1999 and in the markets since 1983.
Child Care Employment is 4% Below Pre-COVID Peak (47,700 Jobs)
Childcare Employment is 4% Below Pre-COVID Peak (47,700 Jobs)
The Disproportionate Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women in the Workforce ©2023 Chmura Economics & Analytics
…BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN IS A BARRIER FOR THE LABOUR MARKET WRIT LARGE.
24 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | Q2 Edition 2023
© 2023 Chmura Economics & Analytics
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