He-cession

An allusion to the fact that male-dominated industries have, thus far, been hit hardest during the recession.

Writing for Reuters, Ashleigh Patterson asked:

As men bear the brunt of the economic downturn, could the so-called “he-cession” hold a silver lining for the opposite sex?

Citing a recent Times report that revealed, “a full 82 percent of the job losses have befallen men, who are heavily represented in distressed industries like manufacturing and construction,” Patterson wrote: “Women are picking up the slack, with many finding themselves as the sole breadwinners for their families.”

Columnist Greg Burns also observed that the disparity in male-female unemployment rates could, in part, be attributed to the economic vulnerability of male-dominated industries. However, Burns noted another factor in women’s resilience to the downturn – higher education:

Since 1981, women have earned far more bachelor’s degrees. They collect 135 for every 100 awarded to men. … At the master’s level, the “degree gap” is an even wider 150–100. Because unemployment among college graduates clocks in at 4.1 percent, less than half the rate of high-school grads, those sheepskins count.