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.

Federal Family and Sick Leave for Covid-19 Expanded by New York District Court

August 14, 2020
Leave
Paid Family Leave
Pregnancy Discrimination
FMLA
S.D.N.Y. Judge Paul Oetken invalidated parts of the Department of Labor’s interpretation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in a lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

New York State Human Rights Law Invoked in Sexual Harassment Arbitration Case

August 11, 2020
Sexual Harassment
A split has appeared in how to handle sexual harassment cases with a New York trial judge ruling recently that the state’s Human Rights Law prevents companies and employees from entering arbitration over sexual harassment. This contradicts an earlier ruling in New York’s Southern District where a judge ruled that arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) supersedes New York’s statutory prohibition against arbitration.

The First Recession for Women

August 11, 2020
Gender Discrimination
There is a new feature to the pandemic-induced recession that has decimated employment, manufacturing, child care, education, and just about every other facet of life. It is women, not men who are the most greatly affected by the force of the shutdown.

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