Excerpt from FedCommunities article by Jennifer Fernandez
What Is Driving the Continued Women’s Labor Force Shortage?
By Jennifer Fernandez
July 12, 2023
While the overall unemployment rate in the US hit a low of 3.4% in May 2023, that number masks the nuanced reasons behind what is driving workers to join the workforce in the US. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts an individual as unemployed only if they are actively seeking work. Individuals who may want to join the workforce, or work more hours, but are held back for other reasons—such as family obligations—are not counted among the unemployed.
During the pandemic, women left the labor force at a slightly higher rate than men and were slower to return to work, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The lingering effects of the pandemic can still be found in the numbers three years later.
According to the most recent Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), 23% of prime work-aged (25-54 years old) respondents were not working in September 2022, the month prior to the survey. When looking at these numbers by gender, we see a large gap between men and women. Of prime work-aged women, 28% were not working, compared to just 18% of prime work-aged men.
Why do women continue to be absent in the workforce? SHED respondents cited child care and family obligations at a much higher rate compared to men. When asked what contributed to not working within the last month, women and men answered similarly with the exception of family obligations. Seven percent of women noted child care compared to 1% of men, and 10% of women noted family or personal obligations besides child care compared to 5% of men.
Source: Fernandez, J. (2023, July 12). What is driving the continued women’s labor force shortage? Fed Communities. https://fedcommunities.org/what-driving-continued-womens-labor-force-shortage/
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