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Support for Women: The “She-cession”
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THE ”She-cession” By Cassie Beer, Women’s Fund Director Between 2015 and 2018, women were joining the workforce en masse, at a higher rate than men. We are all well aware what 2020 brought: 3.5 million mothers left their jobs, driving the labor force participation rate for working moms from approximately 70% to 55%. The latest US Chamber report reveals that women are currently participating in the labor force at the lowest rates since the 1970s.
The “she-cession” isn’t just plateauing - it’s getting worse.
The problem isn’t just the availability of jobs. If every unemployed person in the country found a job this week, we would still have 5.4 million open jobs. We also know from the Women’s Fund research that Allen County single-mother households with children under the age of 18 have a median income of $22,879, and single-mother families with at least one child under five have a poverty rate of nearly 60%. So how can employers in search of a workforce take steps to attract, retain, and promote women in the workplace? 1. Personal Safety: In Allen County, one in three women experiences domestic violence (higher than the national average of one in four). Domestic violence costs American businesses on average $8.3 billion a year in health and lost productivity and $7.9 million a year in paid workdays. 2. Caregiving Support: Women are more likely to be called upon to be caregivers but being able to provide care can be threatened by inflexible work schedules or lack of paid time off. In Allen County, 50% of women have caregiving responsibilities (young children, adult children with disabilities, aging parents), but 23% of them have no paid time off when caregiving duties inevitably arise. 3. Physical & Mental Well-Being: In the Allen County Women & Girls Study, several themes arose around the effects of persistent toxic stress in women’s lives. Our research revealed that there are still significant barriers to mental health, including insufficient insurance coverage, high out-ofpocket costs, transportation, and a lack of qualified providers. 4. Employer Education: On average, companies are spending more than $2,000 in turnover costs per entry-level position. By seeking out opportunities to learn about current best practices in attraction, retention, and promotion, employers can support not only the women in the workforce but their entire staff. Women in Greater Fort Wayne deserve to contribute their brilliance, creativity, and grit to the workforce, and that opportunity largely depends on local employers’ willingness to adopt policies, benefits, professional development opportunities, and culture shifts that support gender equity.
Women’s Fund Fort Wayne
The Women’s Fund of Greater Fort Wayne acts as a catalyst to strengthen our community. They mobilize resources and establish research informed priorities to close opportunity gaps for women and girls regardless of place, race, and identity. They are driven to create systems-level change to positively affect women and girls throughout our community. Investing in women has a ripple effect, benefiting not just her family, but the greater community. https://www.womensfundfw.org/ a
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