April 7, 2022
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Two Years In, NWLC Releases Sobering Study on Women’s Employment

 

While the disastrous recession that accompanied the first wave of global lockdowns has receded, women’s employment in the US remains in a dire place, according to a new study by the National Women’s Law Center. The full study can be accessed through the link, but we wanted to highlight some of the findings.

  • In 2022 there were 1.1 million fewer women in the labor force when compared to February 2020. Meanwhile, male labor force participation has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
  • While 78% of fathers who were laid off or quit have found new employment, only 41% of mothers have done so.
  • Almost 40% of women indicated that their family financial situation was worse off than it was pre-pandemic.
  • Covid-19 has had a negative impact on the mental health of 58% of women respondents.

As we have highlighted before, the pandemic had an outsize effect on the stability of women in the workforce, sometimes being dubbed the world’s first she-cession. Women tend to be overrepresented in sectors that saw some of the steepest employment declines and which continue to be hampered by outbreaks. The NWLC study demonstrates that this problem is not going away.

Alex Berke Quoted in New York Times Article on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

March 5, 2021
Pregnancy Discrimination
The pandemic may be creating a path for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was first introduced in 2012 to become law. This law will help clarify and define the rights of women to receive accommodations in the workplace.

Laurie Berke-Weiss Quoted in NY Law Journal Article about Investigation into Sexual Harassment Claims Against Governor Cuomo

March 3, 2021
Sexual Harassment
As New Yorkers follow the sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo with interest, the New York Law Journal explores “What’s Next for the Investigation Into Sexual Harassment Claims Against Cuomo.”

Profile of Silvia Federici Highlights What She’s Been Saying for Decades, Capitalism Exploits Women. The Pandemic Just Made it Impossible to Ignore.

March 2, 2021
Gender Discrimination
As the pandemic has thrown millions into unemployment, has affected women disproportionately, and laid bare just how much working people rely on myriad forms domestic care, others are, as this wide-ranging profile in the New York Times magazine suggests, rediscovering the socialist feminism of Federici and her contemporaries, such as Selma James, Angela Davis, and the Combahee River Collective.

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