GVSU economist: COVID-19 recession is 'first women's recession'

The COVID-19 recession is the first recession to affect women more than men, said Paul Isely, associate dean and professor of economics in the Seidman College of Business.

Isely said traditionally women have been in service-sector jobs and jobs that tend to be recession-proof. 

“COVID-19 is hurting those who have jobs that require interacting with people,” Isely explained. “In this recession, we saw the unemployment rate for women jump more than it did for men, which is very, very unusual.” 

Isely also said Black employees are being affected more deeply in this recession than other ethnic or underrepresented groups, because many are employed in front-facing jobs, which require interacting directly with the public.

Isely said much of the economy has come back, but certain sectors of the economy haven’t even started to come back. He said as the winter season approaches, a second, more targeted stimulus would help the economy and help states shore up their coffers.

“In April, unemployment just exploded, faster than we’ve ever seen it, so we had to do something really fast,” said Isely. “We had to make sure people weren’t hurting. As far as government spending goes, economists call this a helicopter drop.”

Isely said the massive shutdown of the U.S. economy in April meant money had to be injected into the economy quickly, which included everyone. Now, he said, there is more time to plan a targeted stimulus.

As far as unemployment, Isely said those who are searching for work are considering two factors: whether the job pays as much as unemployment, and whether the risk is high for getting COVID.

“There was so much stimulus earlier in the year, many of those in the lower-income group have more savings now than they did in February,” he said. 

Before the recession hit, Isely said there were already fewer transactional jobs, and that trend will continue.

“Many people who were uncomfortable ordering products online are now used to the process, even grandparents know how to order online because of COVID,” said Isely. “But, will they go back to the corner store after this is all said and done? It’s likely transactional jobs won’t come back in the numbers we saw going into the recession. People in those jobs need to think about how to retrain or upskill.”