economy

Seven point two. And counting. As the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports, the most recent unemployment rate is 7.2 percent. On February 6, we will get the next installment of bad news. The big number gives us a backdrop for what bloggers like Deborah have been reporting on in a more personal way–that the Great Recession we’re in requires that us all to learn new things about ourselves. The downturn also helps us understand some old things, like inequality.

In the New York Times the other week, a blogger took a look at gender and unemployment and put the following together: the rates of unemployment are increasing for everyone, but they are increasing at a higher rate for men than for women, and at a higher rate for African Americans and Latinos than for other groups. As men fall out of their jobs at a higher rate, women are coming very close to being 50% of the workforce. The Times blogger asked, is this “A Milestone for Working Women?” The question is meant, I think, to be ironic: could it be that this bad news for the economy is kinda good news for the ladies?

Like so many other things, though, this employment question is not a a zero sum—in other words, men’s losses are not women’s gains, or any one else’s. As an alternative to any kind of zero-sum thinking, I suggest that we think about the meaning and function of work.

The meaning of work, as well as of “unemployment” and “employment,” continues to be something different for men and women. As I pointed out in November, recent research shows that on the job women work harder for less pay their male counterparts. And not because women have less experience. (For the latest on this, see Center for American Progress’s Equal Pay for Breadwinners report by Heather Boushey.)

Here’s an idea. Working status might best be understood as lying on a continuum: there are the unemployed (want a job, can’t find one), the underemployed (have some work, want more), the employed, and the overemployed (let’s call it the second shift category). (By the way, the BLS offers a bunch of alternative measures of unemployment; that 7.2 percent figure is called “U-3″—the official unemployment rate. But there’s another number, the “U-6″—or the underemployment rate, which in December 2008 hit 13.5 percent.)

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Just went up over at AlterNet: Will Creativity Become a Victim of the Economy?

This is the layoff that just keeps giving–writing-wise, at least 🙂

Have a good weekend, everyone!

As readers know, I just can’t seem to stop writing about this recession — ever since hubby got laidoff last week.

A piece I wrote in response to that NYTimes article from Sunday (“Daddy’s Home, and A Bit Lost”) is now live at the Women’s Media Center site. It’s called “Masculine Mystique, Meet Feminine Mistake”. Thanks for passing it on!

From time to time, we put your comments into posts. Here’s one I couldn’t pass up, from Girls Education and Mentoring Services’ (GEMS) Patti Binder, who blogs at What’s Good for Girls. Patti’s resilience story inspires me right back. –Deborah

Hey Deborah!

I have been thinking of you– your honesty about what’s happening and your ability to write about it on a day to day basis are really amazing and inspiring. No doubt you and Marco are resilient and will have what it takes to get through this on the other side, perhaps even in a better position. If I can do anything– let me know! I’d be happy to!

The recession sucks– and it amplifies everyone’s fears. In the non profit world, where I live, the loss of state contracts in the wake of Paterson’s proposed budget, the increased competition for foundation dollars as their endowments take hits, or close all together in the case of Picower and Jeht– (all of their money was tied up in Madoff) we are now all “bunkering down” in your words, running numbers, strategizing, crying, hoping, praying, and as always, working, working, working, and remembering the reason we do the work– the girls we serve.

Sometimes I feel my mind running all of the terrible what if scenarios..and I feel like its what people used to say about terrorism, you know, if you are afraid to go outside then “they’ve won already.” I wasn’t one to be wrapped up in fear and paranoia around the terrorism thing, but I do feel that its good to stop obsessing and worrying (but thinking and strategizing) or “they will have won already.” I refuse to let the Madoffs and the Bushes and the Cheneys win in my personal world–

ramble, ramble…at any rate, thinking of you!

Patti

“C’mon, Love, think about it,” he says in that adorable and sometimes impossible-to-comprehend British accent of his, “You can move in with me! Save loads of money, we’ll see each other every night…”

He looks at me with such certainty, such confidence in his proposition. I close my eyes and bury my face in his chest while I consider my options.

He has asked me this question four and a half times now. The first time, I could not suppress my dismissive laughter, as we had only just agreed to be exclusive, making the offer too impulsive to be taken seriously (the four vodka cocktails I’d consumed that night didn’t help, either).

The second and third time, I began to accept that he was serious and that I therefore needed to devote serious consideration to this prospect. I also separated from the Navy (and therefore gainful employment) around this point in the ongoing conversation. I had never experienced “broke” before, and the dwindling contents of my checking account (and slowly rising credit card debt) made the idea of rent reduction more and more alluring. But still, I had resisted in charming and sardonic ways, which he was clearly not accepting as my final answer.

Now, at the fourth mention, I am cognizant of the fact that I need to respond with seriousness, and that this will be a binding answer.

I imagine coming home, exhausted from a long day at my new job and the two-hours-each-way commute from Annapolis to Rockville, Maryland. I imagine slipping my shoes off at the door (his rule—to protect the white carpets in his spacious, two-bedroom apartment) and trotting over to him, cuddling in front of his flat-screen television in the adorable business casual ensemble I’d be able to afford, since I’d be living virtually rent-free. The amenities of his high-rise apartment building would make the now-daily headaches of finding a parking spot, doing my laundry, and maintaining my fitness regime virtually disappear. Staying with him every night without having to worry about whether I’d packed a comb and a toothbrush. . .

I can’t deny it. It’s a tempting offer.
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A few quick hits:

A front page story in this weekends Style section titled “Daddy’s Home, and a Bit Lost”

Tracy Clark-Flory at Salon on “Rosies of the Recession

Barnard’s new President on “One Gender’s Crash” in WaPo

Former Sec’y of Labor Robert Reich on The Stimulus: How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers

And for kicks (though not explicitly on recession), a new video from the YWCA’s OWN IT initiative on what young women want from the Obama Administration.

Seen more stuff on gender and the recession? I’m collecting links!

Today is Day 1 of my being sole and primary breadwinner—for the first time in my married life.

I gave Marco the home office this morning and headed off to COSI to do my work.  And boy oh boy is there company here.  Is everyone on the Upper West Side a freelancer, or looking for work, today or what?  The guy across from me is biting his bottom lip and reading the Wall Street Journal. A casualty of Lehman Brothers?  Maybe I’m just making myself feel better, but heck if Misery doesn’t love her some company right now.

Except that I’m not feeling so miserable.  The news is still fresh, and Marco is still processing in many ways.  But for the most part we are taking refuge in a shared bunker mentality and making the best of things.  Last night we ate cookies for dinner and watched a marathon 4 hours of 24.

Apparently, we’re not alone in feeling good–or at least, ok–amidst the bad.  I read with interest this article about resilience in yesterday’s NYTimes, titled “Down and Out–or Up,” which was accompanied by the image in this post.  My favorite bit was this:

“[T]he depth of this economic collapse has unceremoniously stripped thousands of far more than money: reputations have reversed; friendships have turned sour; families have fractured. Yet experts say that the recent spate of suicides, while undeniably sad, amounts to no more than anecdotal, personal tragedy. The vast majority of people can and sometimes do weather stinging humiliation and loss without suffering any psychological wounds, and they do it by drawing on resources which they barely know they have.”

And to be honest, that’s kind of how it feels.  I’m discovering resources I didn’t know were in me.  Marco’s got resources too, and we’re both keeping focused on what’s most important.  “All I have to do is look at Tula’s face,” Marco said to me at one point this weekend when we were both marveling at how not-yet-panicked we felt.  Tula, being our 5 month old crazy kitten.

It’s our mantra this week: Tula’s face.

In the midst of horrible headlines, a bright spot.  As reported at Womenstake, the National Women’s Law Center blog, today the House of Representatives passed both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. “These key bills provide women with critical tools to challenge pay discrimination. However, in order to ensure that women truly receive equal pay for equal work both of these bills must pass the Senate before reaching the desk of President-elect Obama.”  Read what’s next, here.

And on that note, I wish everyone a good weekend. Marco and I will be laying low, though I have some potentially exciting new projects brewing now in my head….

As folks know, Marco got laid off this week.  Personally and as a nation, I think we are in a state of shock.   As neighbors and loved ones learn about layoffs and others tremble in anticipation as they face another tenuous day on the job, we need to create space for holding and expressing our joint grief, panic, and rage.  There is a presence in anger, and we need to hold accountable those who are ultimately responsible, namely Wall Street and George Friggin W. Bush.

But Marco and I are also keeping faith.

Marco got the news on Wednesday and his last day is today.  We’ve spent most of the week huddled together, asking how each other is doing, reminding ourselves of all that we do have—our health, cherished friends who rushed to email their contacts, family members who offered the promise of loans should we need them, a roof over our heads, love, and more.  We had just started looking for a larger apartment, but instead of going to open houses this Sunday, we’ll head to IKEA to find me a desk.  We’ll need intermediary health care fast, as we’ve got medical expenses this year, we’ll stop eating out, I’ll work more hours.  I’m overwhelmed, but no one has died.  Our lives go on.  As one wise friend said to me yesterday over the phone, “This is a Fucking Stressful Bummer.”  It’s an FSB indeed.  A lot to handle, but hopefully that is all.

The reaction from loved ones is striking.  “You know that’s my greatest nightmare,” wrote one, unable to contain her own fear.  Another emailed, “My friend’s husband got laid off in late October and by November he had found a job that was WAY better.  This is tough, but I am going to remember that hopeful example when thinking about what’s in store for Marco.”

In the emails that continue to pour in with leads, in the Facebook responses, and in comments on here on this blog, I find hope.

And while Marco and I are busy trying to “fix” the problem that’s hit our personal lives and embrace this moment as a springboard for innovation and change, there are many families and individuals for whom this current crisis constitutes a breaking point.  My heart goes out to each and every one of them.  I pray that we will not be among the broken, and that this experience will strengthen us, a newly married couple, as we forge on.

And yes, I am also EXTREMELY pissed.  As one friend emailed, “Thank you Dubya.  You’re the gift that keeps on giving.”

Let me tell you, I count the days left til that useless old gift goes back to the store.

Day 1 following the news of my husband Marco’s surprise layoff.  A heartfelt round of gratitude to everyone who has called, emailed, twittered, tweeted, Facebooked, and texted support over the last 36 hours!  I promise to post more regularly again soon.  I’ve just been a little, well, preoccupied, you could say.

In the meantime, I wanted to send a shout out to Laura for her post yesterday, which truly cheered me up.  I find optimism contagious, and though many are seriously suffering right now, I think Laura’s insights about the future are spot on.