A report from Pew Research Center this week details more job losses among women than men during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly based on education levels.
Overall, the number of women ages 25 and older in the labor force has fallen 1.3% since the third quarter of 2019, similar to the 1.1% decline of men in the labor force.
However, this modest difference is actually more divergent based on levels of education.
Pew reports that from the third quarter of 2019 to the same quarter of 2021, the number of women in the labor force who are not high school graduates decreased 12.8%, compared to only a 4.9% contraction among comparably educated men.
The pandemic also disproportionately affected women with a high school diploma. The ranks of women in the high-school-educated labor force have declined 6% since the third quarter of 2019. The labor force of similarly educated men has fallen only 1.8%.
To see the full report, click here.
