Should We Be Concerned About the "He-Cession"? - Building Gender Balanced Business

• That more men than women are losing their jobs in the current financial crisis in some Western countries is a concern for policymakers and commentators alike, especially as it leads to women outnumbering men in the work force in the US.

• But Nancy Folbre, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, wonders what all the fuss is about.

• The so-called he-cession concept, she writes, reveals “the impact of gender on our understanding of economic issues”.

• Folbre, in an Economix blog, notes that families with two earners are more diversified and thus can handle economic crises better. Also, she echoes other feminists in saying that more dependent males might mean more men more involved in family responsibilities.

• But perhaps the biggest improvement could come from more reasoned (ie, neither too macho or too risk-averse) economic behavior, as the genders are balanced in the workplace.

• Folbre cites studies showing that women are more risk-averse than men (except those women in the finance industry, alas) but also notes that other studies show that neither men or women are especially good at assessing choices.

• In general, though, Folbre sees a big advantage to more gender-balanced workplaces (and homes).

• What she does not address is how to get more of that newly fully 50% of the US workforce that is female into more positions of authority where the women can manifest the advantages of gender balance.

The Economix blog