The Wall Street Journal reports that the outsized impact that the recession seemed to be having on men appears to be ending, as "the number of married couples where a mother is employed but the father isn’t slipped to just over 1.45 million in 2013 … down from about 1.5 million the prior year and a peak of nearly 1.79 million in 2009."
The story goes on to point out that "the number of married couples where the father was employed but the mother wasn’t rose to 7.21 million last year - or about 31% of such couples - from 7.19 million in 2013. In 2007, there were 7.6 million such families."
And, the Journal writes, "The job market for male workers has been improving. During the downturn, job losses among men outnumbered those among women by 2.6 to 1. That’s because men dominate employment in goods-producing industries like construction and manufacturing that were particularly hard-hit during the recession. Health-care and education jobs were relatively more stable. Since the labor market bottomed out, men’s employment has outpaced women’s. While still not back to pre-recession levels, construction has added more than a half-million jobs from its recent low point, and manufacturing has recovered 626,000 since factory payrolls cratered."
The story goes on to point out that "the number of married couples where the father was employed but the mother wasn’t rose to 7.21 million last year - or about 31% of such couples - from 7.19 million in 2013. In 2007, there were 7.6 million such families."
And, the Journal writes, "The job market for male workers has been improving. During the downturn, job losses among men outnumbered those among women by 2.6 to 1. That’s because men dominate employment in goods-producing industries like construction and manufacturing that were particularly hard-hit during the recession. Health-care and education jobs were relatively more stable. Since the labor market bottomed out, men’s employment has outpaced women’s. While still not back to pre-recession levels, construction has added more than a half-million jobs from its recent low point, and manufacturing has recovered 626,000 since factory payrolls cratered."
- KC's View:
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I just hope that the guys who ended up spending more time at home over the past few years discovered something … that it awakened in them an awareness that the job can't be the most important thing.
Right after I saw this story, I saw a piece online about some state legislator who got in trouble last week when he said that the reason men make more money than women is because they work harder and longer hours. And all I could think to myself is that this unfortunate fellow must not have any sisters, daughter or wife … because it would not be my experience that women don't work as hard or as long as men. They often manage it better, and integrate it into their lives more effectively … but their work ethic is every bit as strong as that of most men I've met. (It's like the old story about Ginger Rogers…that she was as good a dancer as Fred Astaire, especially because she had to make it look effortless and do it backwards and in heels.)
