New Report: Recession Taking A Toll On Women

Americans who work hard and play by the rules deserve the opportunity to succeed and achieve, but that's simply not the case. Women are facing new and heightened risks in this uncertain economy, according to a new report released today by Sen. Kennedy, D-Mass. Key findings of the report follow.

--In the past year, the unemployment rate among adult women workers has gone up more rapidly than for men — rising from 3.8 percent in March 2007 to 4.6 percent in March 2008, an increase of 20 percent, compared with a 17 percent increase among adult men.

--The downturn has caused women’s wages to fall and this decline is significantly larger than what men have suffered. In 2007, the real median wage for adult women workers dropped 3 percent; wages for adult male workers dropped by .5 percent over the same period. Women’s wages are also more volatile than men’s wages, and they face a much higher risk of seeing large drops in income than men do.

--Women are also disproportionately at risk in the current foreclosure crisis, since women are 32 perecent more likely than men to have subprime mortgages.

--Existing pay disparities for women exacerbate the economic strain on women and on households run by women, since women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men

--Women have significantly fewer savings to fall back on in a time of economic hardship. Non-married women have a net worth 48% lower than non-married men, and women are less likely than men to participate in employer-sponsored retirement savings programs.

The full text of the report can be found here.

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