Comparing the United States and
United Kingdom, there is a different and interesting relationship between the
gender labor market stocks and the business cycle. In the U.S., there is a greater rise in male
unemployment then female unemployment.
On the other hand in the U.K., there is a greater rise in female unemployment
then male unemployment. So what is the explanation
for this?
The study
conducted found a few things. They found
that the unemployment rate is not gender neutral and that over decades as much
as half of the variation in the gender unemployment rate gap was caused by
changes in male and female rates of transition from unemployment to employment
in the U.S. In the U.K, the biggest difference in unemployment rate can be
shown by a less strong response to the transition between employment and
unemployment for women. In both
countries, mostly for females than males, employment is affected by the entry
rate from inactivity.
Interesting. I wonder if the reason that during recessions the unemployment rate for males increases at a faster rate than females could be contributed to perhaps more males in the labor force.
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering what the average age of individuals making transitions from unemployment to employment is. Because if you take a younger age group workers for example you'd see many individuals going from employed to unemployment rather quickly because they are perhaps still looking for the right match in terms if job settings or fit.
ReplyDeleteThis article provides a great analysis on the break down of the unemployment rate between the United States and the United Kingdom. The article states that flows from inactivity to unemployment are more marked for women than men in the UK. This may indicate that women are less responsive to re-entering the labor force because they have other priorities that may pertain in the UK culture.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this must be due to government policy varying from the United States to the UK. I wonder if we have different definitions defining who is in the labor force. For instance, in the UK where the female unemployment is higher, I wonder if some of those women are caring for children or on an extended maternity leave. While on the other hand, in the United States these women wouldn't be counted towards total unemployment rate.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting trend. I never thought the gender labor markets in the US and UK were so different. I wonder how much culture comes into play in the difference. Women in the UK could have other priorities than finding new work and same with men in the US. I am also curious to know if we have different definitions defining who is in the labor force like Richard comment above.
ReplyDeleteI echo many of the same questions about priorities of women in the US vs UK that are in the other comments, but I also think the gender differences might come from company policies of needing to maintain a diverse workforce which might cause companies to keep women rather than men.
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