Here some graphs provided by Mark Perry, an economist from the University of Michigan who coined the term mancession that, with any luck, is not long for our world. Unfortunately this trend doesn't look to be reversing itself any time soon.
This following graph is particularly incredible, as it demonstrates that the difference between male and female unemployment is at a half-century high, with men taking a 2.5 percent lead. In the late 1970s and mid-1960s, it was women who were behind by that same margin. As Michael Mandel shows here, male unemployment in every age category is nearing a post-war record. 
Perry isn't alone pointing out the terrible toll this recession is taking on men. Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's former pollster, notices a macrotrend that guys are falling behind in all sorts of factors these days, from alcoholism, to prison rates, earnings and life expectancy.How do we explain this? The decline in manufacturing jobs is certainly one thing. Greg Mankiw adds another likely explanation: Residential construction, which boomed during the early part of this decade, has been eviscerated in the housing slump. Nine out of ten construction workers are male, and seven out of ten manufacturing workers are men. Those sectors alone have lost more than 2.5 million jobs.
On the other hand, many women are in industries that aren't facing such devastating, and possibly permanent, upheaval. I keep coming back to this graph about net jobs created in the last ten years in the health and education sectors:
And who works in the health and education sectors? According to the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, the most prevalent occupations for women are:
And who works in the health and education sectors? According to the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, the most prevalent occupations for women are:Three of the top six occupations for women are in the rare sectors that have been growing over the last decade. The Great Mancession, as silly as it sounds, could be deeper, and more long lasting, than the Great Recession.
- Secretaries and administrative assistants, 3,168,000
- Registered nurses, 2,548,000
- Elementary and middle school teachers, 2,403,000
- Cashiers, 2,287,000
- Retail salespersons, 1,783,000
- Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides, 1,675,000
The industry stats definitely tell part of the story. But could it be that the advantage men have enjoyed regarding pay differentials is coming back to haunt them now? Women have been making around $0.78 to every dollar men make, holding experience and actual job constant. In a recession, where cost-cutting is at a premium, it makes good economic sense for companies to cut the higher cost, equal-performing employee. So given the historic and ongoing pay differential between women and men, men are getting cut at higher rates. I doubt this is as important as the stats the writer cited here, but I bet there is some effect.
Perhaps one of the good things to come out of this "mancession" is a narrowing of this wage gap. Nothing else has seemed to work!
[Citation needed]
As far as I'm aware, the $0.78/dollar statistic makes no attempt whatsoever to account for job, experience, etc. It's purely an aggregate number.
imalpha,
You are trying to manipulate a second level value in your analysis while ignoring the first level value that over shadows it; that men predominate the manufacturing sector, women the service sector. As a % of the labor force women who are swinging a hammer, pouring concrete or steel are minimal. In many cases the labor disparity between the sexes is the the jobs selected not the fact that men deserve more.
You won't get people to dangerous work for the same level of pay as less dangerous work, pure and simple.
imalpha,
The .78 figure for the "gender gap" does NOT hold experience and job constant. It is the overall gap between annual earnings of men and women working "full time." It also does not hold hours worked constant, as it counts everyone who works 35 hours per week or more as full-time, and men work significantly more hours than women. When job, experience, and hours are kept constant, the gender gap virtually disappears (and, in some jobs, reverses). John McC is right. The wage gap is overwhelmingly a consequence of men and women doing different work (to the extent it is not a consequence simply of men doing more of it).
Hold on there KRB and John MC. imalpha is closer to a correct analysis of wage disparity than you are. Many thorough studies have carefully analyzed "apples to apples" and still come up with the same thing: a pathetic lack of anything close to wage parity between men and women on the job. When I go to a comparative salary website for my profession, graphic designer, I see clearly that women make less than men doing exactly the same thing and what is worse, over the course of a career, the trend for increased wages for men goes dramatically up and the trend for the wages of women climbs painfully slowly. My friends in many diverse sectors have found exactly the same thing, though happily not as dramatic as the sad trends in my industry.
When I first read the Title of the article/blog I was thinking oh please. Once I actually read what you were writing about I can kinda see where you are coming from. Men are losing their jobs more than women , but it really is not that big of a shock. Women choose jobs that are long term ( not saying men don't) or I guess you can say recession proof. Most women work in fields where they will always be needed. Like your article says there are a lot of women in the medical field , and the medical field will always need employees. There will always be a need for educators the jobs women take are ones where they know they will always be needed. Men on the other hand , choose more jobs that may do well in the summer and not so well in winter.
The industries that men dominate are like your article said manufacturing jobs , contractors, and a/c repair. What I'm trying to say is that most men are good with their hands so they choose jobs that they can use their hands. Most these jobs are unstable and do not do well year round. The article shows a few examples to that support your claim but , there are a lot of people out of work , yes there are a lot of men out of work but at the same time a lot of women are out of work too.So when you say the recession is effecting men more to an extent I agree with you but in my opinion the recession is affecting everyone.
K.L.T - UWF
I found this topic to be very true. A couple of months ago I went to a job fair. Thinking back it, there were a lot more men than women at the job fair. It is interesting think that many labor jobs are at a standstill because of this recession. Also it is true how men have a higher salary than women. This has now backfired for men. Hopefully this will change.
CMK- uwf