More Women as Breadwinners: Low NY Literacy Rates a Factor
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July 7, 2009
NEW YORK - In New York and across the country, far more men have lost jobs during the current recession than have women, and that's reversing the roles of family breadwinner in some homes. Dr. Ira Wolfe, a work force trends expert and author of "The Perfect Labor Storm," says employers need workers with more than just a high school education. He says that even though New York has a low school dropout rate, the state produces a significant percent of students who don't have basic skills.
"New York state actually is 22 percent and City of New York is 25 percent, so the below-basic-literacy rates in the state of New York are among the highest in the country."
Wolfe says that more women are pursuing advanced degrees, which means more women will continue to become breadwinners in New York. He says in the early 2000s, about 75 percent of women between 18 and 45 were collecting paychecks.
He says that more cases are being seen now of a trend that started before the economy went bust.
"That shift already happened. What the recession did was certainly accelerate what was predicted for years: that the male participation rate in the work force was declining and the female participation rate was climbing."
Numbers from the U.S. Labor Department show nearly three out of four jobs lost since the recession started belonged to men, because the industries hit hardest, such as manufacturing, were traditionally male-dominated.