A new report from the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) indicates American women, especially single mothers, were more likely to report financial strain and hardship in recent years, according to Human Resource Executive Online.
IWPR's research, shows 50 percent of young women between the ages of 18 and 34 were unemployed for at least a month during the two-year period leading up to the survey, compared to 24 percent of men in the same age group.
Researcher Jeff Hayes told the source women continued to lose jobs even when men began to see a recovery, although men did lose more jobs overall. Discussing potential causes, he noted more women are enrolling in post-secondary education degree programs than men, and some of them might be experiencing difficulty finding jobs after graduation or between semesters.
He also noted many more women lost jobs than in previous downturns, attributing this trend largely to the increased number of women participating in the workforce. One human resources expert told the source businesses should adjust their human resource systems to ensure they are offering flexible career advancement options in order to attract and retain top talent.
