It’s no longer a man’s world. We don’t need the National Women’s Council

THE simple answer to the question posed by the National Women’s Council of Ireland as to whether women are “bearing the brunt” of the recession is “No”.

Men are “bearing the brunt” of the recession. Bearing the Brunt? Women and the Recession, a TASC document by Pauline Conroy and Ursula Barry, launched with the NWCI and the Equality Authority this week, includes employment statistics for men and women across different age groups. Women’s employment has dropped five points, from 60.8% of the workforce to 55%, since 2007, while men’s employment has dropped 14 points, from 77.1% to 63.3%.

It’s not a competition. Women’s and men’s lives are so interconnected that it’s hard to know where the “brunt” begins and ends. If he loses his job, does he bear the brunt or does she? Anyway, the young are the big losers in this recession. But if one gender is of particular concern in this recession it is men: men, whose unemployment rate has soared; men, whose mental health is more likely to be intertwined with employment status.