Not Gender Specific

There's been plenty of talk about the current downturn being a "mancession" -- that is, many more men than women have lost their jobs and, as a result, the share of females in the workforce has increased.

Under the circumstances, some might assume that women are feelling a bit more sanguine about current circumstances than their male counterparts. In fact, according to a Businesswire press release, "National Citi Survey Finds Women across All Income Levels Are Experiencing Pain of the Recession," that doesn't seem to be the case.

Women with Children Hardest Hit, with More Than Half of Working Mothers Putting in Longer Hours to Make Ends Meet; Majority of Affluent Women Cutting Back Expenses

Most Women Optimistic Circumstances Will Improve Over the Next Year

A new nationwide survey released today by Citi revealed that women across all economic sectors believe that their personal financial situations have deteriorated over the past year and that the majority (65 percent) have permanently changed their spending and saving habits in response to the recession. According to the data, key findings include:

• Thirty-eight percent of women say they are worse off financially compared to one year ago, including women with household incomes of at least $100,000 (29 percent) and women with at least $250,000 in assets excluding real estate and retirement (39 percent).
• The large majority of women across all annual family income levels rate the economy as only fair to poor, including 79 percent of women with less than $50,000 in income, 70 percent of women with a family income of more than $100,000, and 73 percent of women with more than $250,000 in assets.
• Three in five (63 percent) women believe that the country’s economic conditions will deteriorate further before things hit bottom, a similar assessment as men (61 percent).

“We know that women are a critical barometer for the U.S. economy because they drive the majority of household spending decisions and increasingly manage how their families invest,” said Lisa Caputo, Chairman and CEO of Citi’s Women & Co., a financial resource from Citi dedicated to helping women achieve their financial goals. “This new data reveals this is a transformational recession for women who are particularly feeling the effects of the economic downturn and tightening their purse strings and protecting their lairs.”

Women with Children Hardest Hit

According to the survey, working mothers have been hardest hit by current economic conditions, with more than half (53 percent) indicating that they are working longer hours to make ends meet, compared with just 24 percent of women without children and 33 percent of men who said the same.

Polling data also revealed that 75 percent of all women with children say their spending and savings habits have forever changed compared with 61 percent of women without children and 60 percent of all men who said the same. Specifically:

• 63 percent have postponed the purchase of a major item such as an automobile or other expensive item (compared with 50 percent of women without children in the home and 52 percent of men).
• 52 percent have taken money out of savings or investments to help pay expenses (compared with 42 percent of women without children and 39 percent of men).
• At the same time, women with children are most likely to have returned to school in an effort to increase their employment opportunities, with nearly a third (31 percent) pursuing additional education compared with 16 percent of women without children and 21 percent of men.

Affluent Women Also Experiencing the Squeeze

Wealthier women are also making changes in response to the recession, with fully two-thirds (66 percent) of women with assets greater than $250,000, and 71 percent of women making more than $100,000 reporting that they are cutting back on everyday expenses.

Nearly half (46 percent) of both groups say they are postponing purchases of major items, and 29 percent of high-income and 31 percent of high-asset women say they have thought about postponing their retirement.

Signs of Optimism Despite the Pain

Although just one in five (21 percent) women believe that we have reached the end of the recession, women across all categories expressed optimism that circumstances will improve over the next 12 months. Nearly three in five women (58 percent) expect that business conditions in their area will become much or somewhat better over the next year, a sentiment shared by 57 percent of men surveyed.

Comments

[roger]

In 2006, the 400 richest americans had a collective net worth of $1.6 trillion,
this was more than the combined wealth of the bottom 150 million people.
This degree of wealth inequality was last seen just before the great depression.
Do you see the pitch forks on the horizon?

[Rocky]

Since we don't have a bastille, the pitchfork set will storm 747 Park Avenue instead. I suspect that this co-op has more hedge fund managers per square foot than anywhere else in the world.

[Rocky]

The long term good news for women is that many more are attending college and professional schools. Women now often make up more than half of the students at many colleges. When I was a student, only a handful of my fellow students in college and graduate school were women.

[rdm]

Rocky:

More women in the workplace is not necessarily a good thing, especially in this "mancession"; oodles of unemployed men in any society is bad...when they start to lose hope, it's worse, and when they feel completely worthless to society (e.g., the "Dumb TV Dad" syndrome), TSHTF.

All that testosterone will go somewhere...to a job or to a riot?

[Marion Shaw]

rdm: You are on to something that is real; especially among the younger set
under 35 who are as fit as fiddles, educated, resentful and have nothing to
lose. Let's just hope that wife beating doesn't increase.

[Boom2Bust.com]

@Marion Shaw: Unfortunately, wife beating and related forms of domestic violence probably will increase in these tough times...

"Advocates say there is a link between rising unemployment and increased domestic violence.

'If the batterer is unemployed, which many are right now, then he's home more of the time, he has the opportunity to batter more often, and the severity is often worse,' advocate Tiffany Carr said."

"Domestic Violence Shelters Swamped"
Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service, October 14, 2009
http://www.flanews.com/?p=7525

[LES]

SIMPLETON ECONOMICS
IF THE TREASURY GAVE ONE DOLLAR EACH TO 4 AMERICANS....THE DOCTOR PAID HIS DOLLAR TO HIS ACCOUNTANT....THE ACCOUNTANT SPENT HIS DOLLAR ON A LAWYER...THE LAWYER SPENT HIS DOLLAR ON AN A PIANO TEACHER...BUT THE PIANO TEACHER SPENT HIS DOLLAR ON A PAIR OF SHOES MADE IN ASIA...THERE IS NOW ONLY THREE DOLLARS LEFT IN THE ECONOMY...EVERYONE'S STANDARD OF LIVING JUST WENT DOWN...THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO PRINT ANOTHER DOLLAR OR BORROW ANOTHER DOLLAR TO RAISE THE STANDARD OF LIVING...THE ASIAN THAT MADE THE SHOES TAKES HIS DOLLAR AND BUYS A U.S. GOV'T BOND...NOW WE NOT ONLY LOST THE DOLLAR TO THE ASIAN BUT WE HAVE TO PAY INTEREST ON IT...AND SO IT GOES UNTIL WE CAN'T PAY THE INTEREST ON THE DOLLAR...WE JUST PRINT THE MONEY TO PAY THE INTEREST...THE DOLLAR FALLS IN VALUE BECAUSE WE ARE PRINTING TOO MANY DOLLARS SO PRICES MUST RISE WHILE THERE IS LESS AND LESS MONEY IN CIRCULATION AND TAXES MUST RISE.
MORE AND MORE MONEY GOES TO PAY INTEREST...UNTIL THE DOLLAR BECOMES WORTHLESS...WHICH WE ARE CLOSE TO NOW !!!!BEWARE THE END OF THE DOLLAR AND THE END OF DEMOCRACY WITH IT....COUNTRIES THAT IMPORT MORE THAN
THEY EXPORT ARE CALLED BANANA REPUBLICS...THAT'S US