Employment: More
Economic Snapshot: Unmarried Women Continue to See High UnemploymentThe Center for American Progress released an economic snapshot by Heather Boushey and Liz Weiss that reflects a serious economic reality for unmarried women:
New data released last week by the Labor Department shows the continuing consequences of the Great Recession for unmarried women. This group continues to experience high and extended unemployment as well as underemployment, and this underscores the urgent need for Congress and the administration to continue to focus on job creation and policies to spur demand and assist the unemployed.
High unemployment poses enormous challenges for all kinds of workers, but it can be a tragedy for unmarried women. Unmarried women already face higher-than-average poverty, many are responsible for family members including children and elders, and they frequently do not have a partner to rely on during times of economic distress.
Last month, 10.8 percent of unmarried women (age 16 and over) were unemployed (data by marital status is not seasonally adjusted). Of unmarried women who had jobs, 8.1 percent were working part time but said that they wanted to work full time. Nationally, unemployment was at 9.9 percent and 6.6 percent of workers worked part time but would prefer full-time work (part-time data is not seasonally adjusted). Women who head a household without a spouse (with a child, parent, or other dependent household member) faced a slightly higher unemployment rate than other unmarried women, at 11.0 percent in April.
How Did Older Workers Fare in 2009? The Urban Institute's Report Doesn't Paint a Pretty Picture
Unemployment has attracted much attention, but there has been less consideration of how older workers have fared. In past recessions unemployment has remained relatively low for older workers, whose seniority often protected them during rounds of layoffs. However, age might not protect older workers as well as it once did, because workplaces are now less regularized and labor unions are less powerful. And the 2008 stock market collapse, which wiped out trillions of dollars of retirement savings, appears to have raised fears about the affordability of retirement and discouraged many older workers from leaving the workforce.
This report describes how older workers fared in 2009. It focuses on age differences in unemployment rates (the share of the workforce that is out of work and looking for employment), labor force participation rates (the share of the population that is employed or unemployed), employment rates (the share of the population that is employed), the duration of unemployment spells, and earnings. Analyses compare 2009 outcomes with those in 2007, when unemployment fell to its lowest level after the 2001 recession. Data come from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of about 50,000 households that serves as the basis for the federal government's official unemployment statistics.
Unemployment rates for older workers soared in 2009, although they were even higher for younger workers. Older unemployed workers were more likely than their younger counterparts to be out of work for many months.
- On average, 1.5 million workers age 55 to 64 and 421,000 workers age 65 and older were unemployed each month in 2009, more than double the number in 2007.
- The unemployment rate reached all-time highs (since records began in 1948) for older men and women. The 2009 unemployment rate was 7.2 percent for men age 55 to 64 and 6.7 percent for men age 65 and older. For women, the 2009 unemployment rate was 6.0 percent at age 55 to 64 and 6.1 percent at age 65 and older.
- Unemployment rates were much higher at younger ages in 2009. The unemployment rate at age 35 to 44 was 7.9 percent, for example, exceeding the rate at age 55 to 61 by 18 percent and the rate at age 70 to 74 by 30 percent.
- Unemployment in 2009 was more common for men than women of all ages — including older adults — because the recession hit male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing particularly hard. In 2009, 14.3 percent of construction workers age 55 and older and 10.9 percent of older manufacturing workers were unemployed, well above the overall 2009 unemployment rate of 6.5 percent for adults age 55 and older.
- Construction, manufacturing, trade, and professional and business services accounted for nearly two-thirds of unemployed men age 55 and older in 2009. About two-thirds of unemployed women age 55 and older in 2009 came from trade, professional and business services, health care, manufacturing, and education.
- As in past years, 2009 unemployment rates were much higher among older African Americans, Hispanics, and workers with limited education than other older workers. Among men age 55 to 64, for example, about 11 percent of Hispanic workers and 10 percent of African American workers were unemployed, compared with 6 percent of non- Hispanic white workers. About 10 percent of female workers age 55 to 64 without high school diplomas were unemployed in 2009, compared with about 5 percent of their counterparts with college degrees.
- Older unemployed workers spent more time out of work in 2009 than their younger counterparts. More than two-fifths of out-of-work men age 62 to 69 in 2009 were unemployed for more than six months, compared with just less than one-third of out-of-work men age 35 to 44. In December 2009, nearly half of unemployed men age 55 to 61 were out of work for more than six months.
Other 2009 developments were more positive for older workers. The share of adults employed fell at age 25 to 54 but not at age 62 and older. Also, earnings for full-time workers age 65 and older grew rapidly between 2007 and 2009.
A Woman's Work is Never Done
The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA created an online exhibition, A Woman's Work is Never Done, drawing on its image collection to present women working in factories, in teaching, in domestic work and in the arts.
"As Martha Ballard, a well-known eighteenth-century woman, wrote in her journal on Nov. 26, 1795, 'A womans work is Never Done as ye Song Says, and happy Shee whos Strength holds out to the End...' "
"During the middle of the nineteenth century, the duration of the work week at the mills was anywhere from 60 to 73 hours. Although this seems long, it was comparable to a farm worker's hours. In addition, factory owners paid higher wages."
"Women found factory work appealing because it gave them self-sufficiency and independence as well as savings for the future. [An] image of a Foudrinier Machine is from Ballou's Pictorial, June 9, 1855. Foudrinier Machine is used in paper mills to make book paper, leaving the paper on reels to dry so that it will be ready for the finishing process.
In the section Miscellaneous Occupations: "Many women were employed as Postmistresses in nineteenth-century America. Only unmarried women were eligible, and they were appointed through the same process as a postmaster. It was considered a strenuous job for a woman because she had to be on her feet all day, but it was steady work and women were compensated well."
"Sojourner Truth, born ca. 1797, worked as a slave in New York under several owners until about 1829, when she went into domestic service to support herself and her family. She became very involved in her church and eventually travelled to preach her beliefs. For many years she spoke at gatherings in support of women's suffrage and abolition, gaining quite a large following and a reputation for being a very influential speaker. This image is a carte de visite ca. 1864. The text reads: 'I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance. SOJOURNER TRUTH.'
Self-Employed Women
The US government's Small Business Administration issued a report, Self-Employed Women and Time Use
• According to the study, women are about
57 percent less likely than men to enter self-employment.
Entry rates are lowest among African-
American and foreign-born women relative to men.
• Women with more advanced degrees are more
likely to enter self-employment, especially in the
financial industries, education and health sectors, and
other service categories.
• Contrary to results in previous studies, higher
earning women were slightly more likely to enter
self-employment than their lower earning peers.
• Self-employed women work about 1.5 hours
less per day in their self-employment work or about
10 fewer hours per week than self-employed men.
Women work as wage-and-salary employees about
6 fewer hours per week than wage-and-salary-employed
men.
• Self-employed women spend about 3.5 more
hours in household activities per week than women
employed in wage-and-salary work and 6 more hours
than men.
• In general, women spend more time on primary
child care activities, but the effects are largest for
self-employed women. Self-employed women spend
about 3 additional hours per week on primary child
care relative to self-employed men. Women wage and-
salary workers spend about 2 more hours on primary
child care than men in their employed sector.
• For wage-and-salary workers, higher levels of
education mean more time in primary child care, but
education levels are not a significant determinant of
primary care time for the self-employed.
• Differences between self-employed women and
men are especially significant in secondary child
care, where a parent is at the same location as the
child but is primarily engaged in another activity
(such as work or household activities). Women spend
more time than men in secondary child care, with the
largest effects for self-employed women (6.4 hours
per week more than men).
• Being married has opposite effects on the time
use of self-employed women and men. Married selfemployed
women work 4.5 hours fewer than unmarried
self-employed women, whereas self-employed
men who are married work almost 4 more hours per
week than their unmarried counterparts.
• Each additional child in the household means
2.4 fewer work hours per week for self-employed
women and 1.5 fewer hours per week for women in
wage-and-salary work.
Source: SBA, Self-Employed Women and Time Use
Older Workers: Enhanced Communication among Federal Agencies Could Improve Strategies for Hiring and Retaining Experienced Workers
The Government Accountability Office issued a new report on Older Workers:
The proportion of federal employees eligible to retire is growing. While this proportion varies across agencies, in four agencies — the Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Transportation — 46 percent of the workforce will be eligible to retire by 2012, well above the governmentwide average of 33 percent. While these eligibility rates suggest that many will retire, the federal government has historically enjoyed relatively high retention rates, with 40 percent or more of federal employees remaining in the workforce for at least 5 years after becoming eligible. Beyond retaining older workers, in fiscal year 2007, federal agencies hired almost 14,000 new workers who were 55 years of age or older and brought back about 5,400 federal retirees to address workforce needs.
The increasing numbers of retirement-eligible federal workers present challenges and opportunities. The three agencies we reviewed (HUD, SSA, and USAID) share common challenges. All have large proportions of employees nearing retirement, and according to officials, due to past hiring freezes all have relatively few midlevel staff to help pass down knowledge and skills to less experienced employees. Officials from all three agencies also told us that they have difficulty attracting qualified staff with specialized skills. To address these challenges, the three agencies rely on older workers in different ways. USAID brings back its knowledgeable and skilled retirees as contractors to fill short-term job assignments and to help train and develop the agency’s growing number of newly hired staff. SSA uses complex statistical models to project potential retirements in mission critical occupations and uses these data to develop recruitment efforts targeted at a broad pool of candidates, including older workers. While all three agencies rely on older workers to pass down knowledge and skills to junior staff, HUD officials told us this is the primary way they involve older workers, due in part to the agency’s focus on recruiting entry-level staff. In addition, some federal agencies have developed practices that other agencies might find useful in tapping older workers to meet short-term needs. For example, the Department of State has developed databases to match interested retirees with short-term assignments requiring particular skills.
To help agencies hire and retain an experienced workforce, OPM provides guidance, including support tools and training, and has taken steps to address areas of concern to older workers. For example, OPM has initiated actions to streamline the federal application process and to eliminate barriers that deter some federal retirees from returning to federal service or from working part-time at the end of their careers. However, although some federal agencies have developed strategies that could be used effectively by other agencies to hire and retain experienced workers to meet workforce needs, this information is not widely available. And, while OPM has other methods available—such as its human capital and electronic government practices Web sites — that could be used to efficiently package and broadly disseminate this information to a much larger audience, it currently has no plans to do so.
New Job Search Link: Indeed
Recently, the Wall Street Journal highlighted Indeed, a job search site. I tested it and found it receptive and inclusive to limited information input by the user; in other words, I just put in the city in which I live and the results were more than satisfactory. It didn't require registration nor a profile before I began.
"Indeed is a search engine for jobs — with a radically different approach to job search. In one simple search, Indeed gives job seekers free access to millions of employment opportunities from thousands of websites. Indeed.com includes all the job listings from major job boards, newspapers, associations and company career pages — and we continue to add new sites every day.
"With the familiar look and feel of general search engines, Indeed makes it easy for you to drill down by keyword and location to jobs that fit your requirements precisely. You may save your searches and have jobs delivered to you by email alert, MyYahoo, or other RSS feed readers. If you have a MyYahoo account, for example, your saved Indeed job search may be added at the click of a button."
FAQ/Help and Search Tips
One Stop Centers
CareerOneStop is a US Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals to foster talent development in a global economy. It includes: America’s Career InfoNet helps individuals explore career opportunities to make informed employment and education choices. The Web site features user-friendly occupation and industry information, salary data, career videos, education resources, self-assessment tools, career exploration assistance, and other resources that support talent development in today's fast-paced global marketplace. (www.CareerInfoNet.org)
America’s Service Locator connects individuals to employment and training opportunities available at local One-Stop Career Centers. The Web site provides contact information for a range of local work-related services, including unemployment benefits, career development, and educational opportunities. (www.ServiceLocator.org)
