Mancession: Gender, Occupational Segregation,

and the Structural Transformation of Capitalism

Nancy Folbre Interviewed by Paul Jay

Paul Jay: Nancy Folbre, in her blog on the New York Times, wrote the following: "The Great Recession has sometimes been dubbed the Mancession because it drove unemployment among men higher than unemployment among women."  So how is this affecting families?  How is this affecting the future outlook for the population as a whole when it comes to unemployment?  What might be the social consequences of men being more reliant on women for family support? . . .

Nancy Folbre: Male unemployment is significantly higher than female unemployment now.  That’s not terribly surprising — typical in recessions for men to be more affected, because they’re employed in more cyclical industries like manufacturing that go up and down more than other industries.  But –.

Paul Jay: As opposed to service sector, like nurses.

Nancy Folbre: Right.  But the more disturbing trend is a longer-term decline in manufacturing employment.  If you look at the last ten years, even counting the boom years, employment in that sector has declined.  And that’s one of the factors that are driving higher unemployment among men.

Continue reading Male Workers in Trouble: When Clinging to an Old Sanctuary Becomes a Trap →