Women look to rejoin Minnesota workforce
March 3, 2021
MINNEAPOLIS — The economic downturn ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic hit women harder than men, in part because the industries most affected had higher concentrations of female workers.
That was further compounded by a severe shortage of affordable childcare when schools and daycare centers were shifted to distance learning, leaving many women to make the hard choice to cut back on hours or give up work altogether.
It's not just anecdotal.
The Minnesota Dept. of Employment and Economic Development, or DEED, reports that 575,000 women have applied for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus arrived. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis reports that the female unemployment rate peaked at 16.1% last year at the same time the male rate peaked at 13.5%.