Women, Work, and the Downturn For an excellent column on why and how the downturn is likely to affect women, read UNC-Chapel Hill sociologist Philip Cohen’s recent post at HuffPo. He argues, as has Randi Albelda and Linda Hirshman, that Obama’s jobs/stimulus plans thus far are good for men, but not as likely to address the jobs concerns for women. As Cohen asks, will Obama listen?
The Black Middle Class As happened during the Great Depression, so in the (current) Great Recession, African Americans are going to be harder hit by job loss. Zenitha Prince does outstanding reporting on the issues in AFRO News. She reports that the manufacturing sector—read auto industry, where in particular African Americans had found a path to the middle class in the past few decades—is getting hammered. What’s the size of the problem? While the unemployment rate overall is currently at 6.7 percent, for African Americans it is at 11.2 percent. It will get worse.
Not only is unemployment generally twice as high for African Americans than for the population in general, but wealth inequality also makes the black middle class a vulnerable group. While the racial gap in incomes—what we earn at our jobs—has declined over the past thirty years, the gap in wealth—what we own in terms of savings, retirement funds, housing, stocks, and other assets—remains quite large. A 2005 report from the National Urban League reports that African American households have about one-tenth the net worth of white households. This makes family crises like unemployment much harsher.
Later: Read more about the recession’s impact on minority autoworkers in Tuesday’s New York Times.
Comments
Martin — December 29, 2008
Great post. I like how you pull in and integrate relevant information from multiple sources. I know how time consuming that can be.
How do you think the election result will affect these situations? Do you think it will prompt those with wealth to open up more opportunities where those outside the current channels of distribution are able to gain access to wealth? Or will it prompt people with wealth to accept new types of channels?
What I'm getting at is, we all are familiar with what happens when we encounter some person who is outside of what we have experienced previously (forgive me for not framing this discussion more formally/sociologically). All of a sudden, those people who mirror the person you have now encountered and perhaps become friends with, become "visible". Whereas once you or I walked right by and didn't truly acknowledge that person or people or imagine talking to them beyond a meaningless greeting, suddenly there's a familiarity there and you notice similar folks all over.
So when that happens in a few weeks for a substantial amount of people, how do you think it will have an effect on this situation?
In a related way, of course now there is a permanence many will attach to their own unique interaction with the black experience in America. Having a black president is a big "you are welcome here" sign for a heck of a lot of people. As a result (I believe), I think a lot of folks will abandon a transient mindset when it comes to an existence in America. Coupled with, even if only ceremonially, what can be envisioned as the ultimate upgrade to the opportunity structure of black people, will this result in an increased focus on long-term assets, investing and other behaviors that reflect a newfound confidence in the fairness of American society and business?
Even all this combined might only make the tiniest dent in these numbers. But it still excites me that there is at least a glimmer of opportunity on the horizon.
And yes, it is.
Virginia Rutter — December 29, 2008
Of course it is! And, oh yes! I'm hopeful too that changes in how we come into contact with one another across all sorts of barriers, but especially the big old barrier of race, will improve the shape and dimension of opportunities. That translates into more justice, less inequality.
On the one hand there is this symbolic and real moment of having Obama as president. Changes how people imagine and follow up on the distribution of privilege. On the other hand there is this harsh moment of a crushed economy--we're in the Great Recession--and the harshness is greater for black people than white people. I agree with you that there is lots of hope. And more hope still when there is good reporting and serious thought about the risk of the recession to black employment, when we engage in further consideration of how to reduce wealth inequality. But it is going to be a tough couple of years.
Girl with Pen » Blog Archive » Top 10 GWP Posts from 2008! — December 30, 2008
[...] back” to everyone! And merci beaucoup to Virginia for starting us up with that must-read roundup [...]