File spoon-archives/marxism-feminism.archive/marxism-feminism_1997/marxism-feminism.9710, message 9


Date: Fri, 3 Oct 97 20:42:39 UT
From: "Margaret Morganroth Gullette" <mgullette-AT-classic.msn.com>
Subject: RE: M-FEM: RE: Midlife downsizing, the age-wage curve,


Doug-
Thanks for your comments.In the most recent BLS data I've seen, actually a 
higher percentage of  20-somethings were displaced  than those 45-55--but of 
course the difference between the groups is that the 20s will usually find new 
work faster. And much of my data shows that college-educated (highly paid) men 
over 50 are not exempt from job loss although a smaller percentage are 
displaced than among all men 45-55..  
	I would love to deconstruct this line they feed the Xers that the only jobs 
they can get are taken from the Boomers. Any ideas? 

There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that the "downsizing" of the last few
years has really been a matter of bouncing older, more highly paid workers
in favor of younger, low-paid ones. In other words, the net employment
effects are zero; it's just the age mix that's changing. As I say, this is
largely anecdotal.

I can't tell if you're implying that women are more the victims of this
than men, but if you are, then that may well be wrong. Average job tenure
for women has been rising while that for men has been falling.
There are different ways to measure. The BLS data has a smaller percentage of 
women and of managerial professional women between 45-55 losing jobs than of 
men, but those numbers for women are not neglibile either. And while long job 
tenure is good, it often means women (particularly single women) hold on to 
dead-end low-paying jobs to have something. And since women's  age-wage peak 
comes a decade earlier than men's and is about half what men earn in that 
decade, there's no doubt that women as a group are poorer at midlife.And 
that's no surprise.

What I would like you-all to think about is what measures--government 
programs, social pressure,  union-sponsored, whatever-- would help workers at 
midlife. I can be a little utopian in this piece. It's to inspire, not to 
prove how rational I can be about the future.
Margaret

Doug








   

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