1999 vs. 2009 What a difference a decade makes

Okay, so I just read a report titled “Unemployment and Jobs In International Perspective” by two distinguished professors for the United States Congress and it read “The United States has low unemployment rates and substantial job creation, while much of the rest of the industrialized world has high unemployment and little or no expansion in employment. Why?“

The in-depth report went on to show many descriptive statistics and simple econometric evidence to underscore why the U.S. did it better than the rest of the industrialized world due to its untiring attention to controlling labor costs. The report was written 10 years ago when the US economy was labeled the "Goldilocks economy" because things were going just right… not too hot and not too cold. Unemployment and inflation were both lowest they had been in 30 years and the stock market was booming with blossoming day traders all over the place. According to Business Week, the U.S. economy had entered a "new era" in which rapid technological change (especially information technology) will make it possible for the U.S. economy to continue to achieve both low unemployment and low inflation for the foreseeable future.

Oh what a difference a decade makes. Let’s fast forward to 2009 with the highest unemployment rates since the 80’s. Since December 2007 more than 5 million people filed for unemployment according to a recent report from the Department of Labor. The national unemployment rate hit 10.2% not since the 1980’s have we seen such a high rate. The manufacturing sector accounted for 36 percent of all initial unemployment filings during October 2009 compared to 2008’s number of 45 percent, reflecting a slight decrease.

Industries Hardest Hit in 2009:
1. Temporary help services
2. Motion picture and video production
3. Professional employer organizations
4. Automobile manufacturing
5. Construction machinery manufacturing
6. Highway, street, and bridge construction
7. Farm labor contractors and crew leaders
8. Food service contractors
9. Discount department stores
10. Hotels and motels, except casino hotels

States with the highest recorded unemployment rates for Aug, Sep & Oct 2009
1. California
2. Illinois
3. Florida
4. Wisconsin
5. Pennsylvania
6. Ohio
7. Michigan
8. Texas
9. New York
10. Indiana

Shifting Home Balance

The Home Balance is Shifting – Men are being hit harder by the recession than women

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men reported a higher unemployment rate than women for the Month of June with a 2.3 percentage-point difference. According to published statistics, men experienced a 10.6% unemployment rate and women a slightly less rate of 8.3%. Both numbers reflect the highest rates ever recorded since record keeping began in the 1940’s.

Much of this is due to the fact that industries typically dominated by men have been hit harder – construction, manufacturing, and auto.

Industries that appear to be showing some sign of gain are private sector – healthcare and education and those have a high concentration of women, typically more than 51%. The healthcare industry gained more than a half a million jobs and education more than 100,000 since the recession began in December 2007. Both sexes have been impacted by the recession and both nearly doubled since the beginning, in Jan 2008 women’s unemployment was 4.7% and men’s were just over 5%.

Has this affected your home balance?

Are Women Still Expected To Give Up Their Careers?

As a mother and wife I often feel that I am walking on a tight rope. Prior to getting married, I was a career minded and progression focused executive looking for her next challenge. However, the ability to be as tenacious as focused as I had spent the last 10 years doing so became harder to do once I became a mother and a wife. 

I had no real clue of how tough a working mother had it. Constantly feeling torn between duties at work and duties at home. I also had no clue that sleeping for more than 5 hours would become a luxury and not a part of my daily life. 

I started my company years back but since it was undercapitalized when I learned I was pregnant, I immediately ran to the idea of getting a steady job with benefits to cover the medical costs. 

Since I started my new job while pregnant, I did not accrue enough sick and vacation time to go on maternity leave. I was forced to work while in the hospital and had three clients waiting for me upon my arrival home. While pregnant,  I  worked for my new employer while moonlighting and continuing my business - it was not the best situation but necessary.  The strain from pregnancy and working two jobs had its toll on me though. After giving birth, I was absolutely exhausted but now I had no time to catch my breath. 

I had always been a go-getter and did what I had to do. So, working 60 -80 hours per week had always been the norm for me. Besides, I am a New Yorker where no one works less than 50 hours per week. I thought I could do both, be a great mom and work a demanding schedule.

However, I was finding it harder and harder to get on a train, travel 1 hr and 45 minutes and begin my 60-80 hour work week after resting for only 2-3 hours. My son has a severe case of asthma and had been admitted into the  hospital multiple times before he reached his first birthday.   The pressures from a demanding job coupled with my son's health had become overwhelming. I often felt as though I was drowning. 

My husband expected me to be "the mom" and stay at home with our son when he was sick or on the borderline of becoming ill, needed to go on an appointment, family trips, school trips, plays, volunteer activities, etc. Feeling extremely concerned for my son, I never challenged my husband's expectation. After all, I am the woman, right? I started to feel like I was drowning. The increasing pressure from work had its toll on me. Not to mention the growing demands of being a new mom and wife. I no longer craved the thrill of climbing the corporate ladder. My employer noticed it as well.   So after 18 months of working I returned back to managing my business full time. By then the economy had grown worse and two weeks later my husband lost his job. 

Upon returning to my business full-time after leaving it for three years, I quickly learned how much  the market had changed during that time. I had to work 20 times as hard to catch up. And now with my husband being out of work, I definitely had to produce.  I worked around the clock, starting my day at 3:30 in the morning  ended it well into the night. I was able to grow the business and sustain the family. 

My husband found a new job and a new attitude. I noticed that once he was back on his feet, his expectation of me doing the lion share of the home duties had significantly heightened offering little time for me to do focus on my growing business. Starting and running a successful business had been a life long dream of mine since I was 10 years old and worked with my Junior Achievement mentor.

 So now, the question is... how do you balance all demands? What is fair?