By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist |
Today at 12:00 p.m. EST
Republicans’ unanimous opposition to the Build Back Better plan means they are thwarting efforts to, among other things, reduce child-care costs and make pre-K universally available. In doing so, they provide yet further proof that they don’t understand the burdens that the pandemic placed on women.
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A recent study from Pew Research Center illustrates the problem: “The pandemic is associated with an increase in some gender disparities in the labor market," Pew found. “Among adults 25 and older who have no education beyond high school, more women have left the labor force than men.”
The disparity is not clearly evident in the overall numbers. As Pew reports, “The number of women ages 25 and older in the labor force has fallen 1.3% since the third quarter of 2019, similar to the 1.1% decline of men in the labor force.”
The impact on women without a college education, however, is more acute. “From the third quarter of 2019 to the same quarter of 2021, the number of women in the labor force who are not high school graduates decreased 12.8%, dwarfing the 4.9% contraction among comparably educated men,” Pew reports. “The pandemic also disproportionately affected women with a high school diploma. The ranks of women in the high-school-educated labor force have declined 6.0% since the third quarter of 2019. The labor force of similarly educated men has fallen only 1.8%.”
It’s no mystery why this occurred. Women disproportionately work in jobs that could not be performed remotely or that were in industries heavily affected by the pandemic. Retail cashiers, health-care workers and child-care aides faced a simple choice (if their employer remained open): show up to work at risk to their health or stay home to take care of children who were not able to attend school in person.
The extreme shortage of child-care workers is one illustration of the pandemic’s impact on a mostly female workforce. The Post reported last fall: “The child-care services industry is still down 126,700 workers — more than a 10 percent decline from pre-pandemic levels, Labor Department data shows. While many industries complain they can’t find enough workers, the hiring situation is more dire in child-care than in restaurants right now.”
This has aggravated the availability of child care for all families as women were more likely to be forced out of the workforce or to reduce hours to care for children. Women are still primarily responsible for child care in many households. They are also more likely to make less than their male spouses. And for those who remained in the workforce, the cost of child care shot up, contributing to the inflationary pressures many families now feel.
To make matters worse, rural states already suffer from a dearth of child-care options. A 2018 analysis from the Center for American Progress found that 51 percent of Americans live in “child care deserts.” The Tribune Star, for example, reports on a study on child care in Indiana: “An estimated 478,754 children under the age of 6 live in Indiana; 323,109 of them need child care. Just 117,000 children, or 36%, of children in need of care are enrolled in centers.” Oddly, Republicans — who like to consider themselves a populist party and claim to look out for non-college-educated voters — appear entirely indifferent to this issue.
One fallout from the interminable BBB negotiations between Democrats and two conservative members of their party has been the excessive focus on the bill’s top-line price tag. If Democrats want to get something done in this area, they might begin to draw attention instead to the hardship imposed on women in states generally represented by Republicans.
Why don’t Republicans want to help these people? If Democrats are smart, they’ll start posing that question more frequently in the run-up to the midterms.
Columnist |
Today at 12:00 p.m. EST
Republicans’ unanimous opposition to the Build Back Better plan means they are thwarting efforts to, among other things, reduce child-care costs and make pre-K universally available. In doing so, they provide yet further proof that they don’t understand the burdens that the pandemic placed on women.
Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up.
A recent study from Pew Research Center illustrates the problem: “The pandemic is associated with an increase in some gender disparities in the labor market," Pew found. “Among adults 25 and older who have no education beyond high school, more women have left the labor force than men.”
The disparity is not clearly evident in the overall numbers. As Pew reports, “The number of women ages 25 and older in the labor force has fallen 1.3% since the third quarter of 2019, similar to the 1.1% decline of men in the labor force.”
The impact on women without a college education, however, is more acute. “From the third quarter of 2019 to the same quarter of 2021, the number of women in the labor force who are not high school graduates decreased 12.8%, dwarfing the 4.9% contraction among comparably educated men,” Pew reports. “The pandemic also disproportionately affected women with a high school diploma. The ranks of women in the high-school-educated labor force have declined 6.0% since the third quarter of 2019. The labor force of similarly educated men has fallen only 1.8%.”
It’s no mystery why this occurred. Women disproportionately work in jobs that could not be performed remotely or that were in industries heavily affected by the pandemic. Retail cashiers, health-care workers and child-care aides faced a simple choice (if their employer remained open): show up to work at risk to their health or stay home to take care of children who were not able to attend school in person.
The extreme shortage of child-care workers is one illustration of the pandemic’s impact on a mostly female workforce. The Post reported last fall: “The child-care services industry is still down 126,700 workers — more than a 10 percent decline from pre-pandemic levels, Labor Department data shows. While many industries complain they can’t find enough workers, the hiring situation is more dire in child-care than in restaurants right now.”
This has aggravated the availability of child care for all families as women were more likely to be forced out of the workforce or to reduce hours to care for children. Women are still primarily responsible for child care in many households. They are also more likely to make less than their male spouses. And for those who remained in the workforce, the cost of child care shot up, contributing to the inflationary pressures many families now feel.
To make matters worse, rural states already suffer from a dearth of child-care options. A 2018 analysis from the Center for American Progress found that 51 percent of Americans live in “child care deserts.” The Tribune Star, for example, reports on a study on child care in Indiana: “An estimated 478,754 children under the age of 6 live in Indiana; 323,109 of them need child care. Just 117,000 children, or 36%, of children in need of care are enrolled in centers.” Oddly, Republicans — who like to consider themselves a populist party and claim to look out for non-college-educated voters — appear entirely indifferent to this issue.
One fallout from the interminable BBB negotiations between Democrats and two conservative members of their party has been the excessive focus on the bill’s top-line price tag. If Democrats want to get something done in this area, they might begin to draw attention instead to the hardship imposed on women in states generally represented by Republicans.
Why don’t Republicans want to help these people? If Democrats are smart, they’ll start posing that question more frequently in the run-up to the midterms.
