He-cession? She-cession? The Gendered Impact of the Great Recession in the United States

Abstract

Many commentators have remarked on the seemingly disproportionate job losses suffered by men in the initial days of the Great Recession; some conservative commentators have gone so far as to label it a “he-cession” or “man-cession.” In this paper, I assess the claim that the Great Recession has had a disproportionate impact on men. I begin by examining the position and status of women and men in the U.S. economy today in terms of labor force participation, occupational placement, relative wages, and financial responsibility for children. I discuss how women’s (especially women of color’s) economic status has rendered them particularly vulnerable to the impact of the Great Recession. I critique the notion of the “he-cession” and expose the faulty, ahistorical assumptions on which it is based. Finally, I examine the impact of state and local austerity on public sector employment and speculate as to the implications of austerity for the relative economic standing of women of various races/ethnicities.