More women becoming breadwinners as men get laid off
February 18, 2009
A recent story in the New York Times revealed a surprising statistic—for the first time in American history women are on the brink of making more money in the labor force than men.
The article explains that males have taken the brunt of the economic recession, with 82 percent of the layoffs in the U.S. terminating the jobs of men.
It makes sense because two of the industries that have been hit the hardest are construction and manufacturing, which are male-dominated fields. Conversely, human service fields that are always in need of employees are predominately worked by women, and are thus less likely to be laid off.
As a result, more women are finding themselves the breadwinners of their families, and more men are staying home to take care of children and tend to the household chores.
Media credit: University of Texas website www.utexas.edu
The article suggests that a prolonged economic recession with millions of lay offs such as this could not only affect the way families budget their finances, but could alter traditional gender roles.
The men in this article seem determined to find a new job as quickly as possible. I wonder if they are anxious to contribute to the household income, if they are simply just bored without a job or if they don’t like the stigma attached to being unemployed while their wives are working.
With increasing numbers of men losing their jobs and more women supporting their families, perhaps eventually more men will find it acceptable to be “stay at home dads” or “house husbands.” There are some out there already, but not enough for them to be considered the norm. We’ll see what happens.
