Survey data shows the recession is really a ‘mom-cession’

A new study on the economic recession shows that married mothers who lost their jobs were least likely to find new employment and had the greatest decrease in annual earnings at their new jobs.

Earlier analysis of labor statistics had publicized the fact that larger total numbers of men had lost their jobs as the economy lagged. Recent data, however, has caused some to re-label the recession, which has been known as a “man-cession” or “he-cession,” as the “mom-cession.”

In essence, the study found that these women take longer to find new permanent full time jobs than men. The average time that all the survey participants (men and women) spent between jobs, according to the data, was 17 weeks, or almost four months.

On average, married mothers also earned less once they found new jobs. Annually, they were paid $9,100 less at new full time jobs than married fathers, which amounts to almost $5 per hour. This statistic holds even when accounting for education level and work experience.

The study, co-authored by University of Washington sociology graduate students Brian Serafini and Michelle Maroto, examined six years of data from the Census Bureau’s Displaced Workers Supplement. The supplement, part of a monthly household questionnaire, was completed by over 4,000 workers around the country who had lost their jobs between 2004 and 2010.

The researchers say the study supports the notions of a “motherhood penalty” versus the “daddy bonus” for men seen as the breadwinners in the work place. They say it’s evidence of discrimination against women whose family decisions may signal to employers that they lack commitment in the work place.

However, the findings should not be read as a predictor of who will be more likely to lose their jobs – just what is likely to happen once an individual loses a job and must look for another one.

Contrasting the plight of married mothers, single women with no children were able to find better paying jobs faster than single men without children.

This led the Maroto and Serafini to conclude that the recession is a “he-cession” when comparing single men without children to single childless women.

The study was funded by a grant from the Employment & Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Jillian Raftery contributed to this report