The United States is in a bad economic state and has many American’s financially insecure and vulnerable. The unfortunate result of a dwindling economy is that it does two things, one, is that a recession forces people to reevaluate their financial assets, leaving them no choice but to drastically downgrade their lifestyle, while others find themselves in an even greater poverty-stricken situation. Although America has not faced a recession like the Great depression, America’s current economic state is bad and it has impacted America’s social categories, which are race and class. Thus, groups who have become victims of America’s current, or as some might say just recently past recession, are minorities and our middle and lower class groups of people. In making an educated guess, it would make sense to assume that non-white groups who face economic hardships in overwhelming numbers are Blacks and Hispanics. Moreover, these groups are also people who contribute to America’s middle and lower class system. However, in conducting research on the recessions social implications as it relates to class and race, reveals that Blacks and Hispanics, middle class and lower class are groups of people who suffer most in nationwide economic declines. However, although recession affects race and class, let’s not forget that it relates to gender as well, which is included in this blog.
Last but not least, in this in depth intro, you have been provided with additional information. For example in talking about the implication of race and class during a recession, we must not forget to include and observe how other nations suffer as well. Toward the end of this blog, you will see how other nations economies suffered.
Due to the fact that a recession is in fact a social issue that affects certain social categories like class and race, research indicates that during America’s recession, numbers increased and decreased in negative ways. According to Amanda Logan and Christian E. Weller, reporters for Center for American Progress, in their article titled The State of Minorities: The Recession Issue, Logan and Weller state, “ Minority workers have fewer employment opportunities, lower wages, or both as compared to their white counterparts.” In addition, statistical data presented by Logan and Weller during the recession states, “ The unemployment rate for African-American’s amounted to 11.5 percent, compared to 8.9 percent for Hispanics, an 6.3 percent for Whites.” Next, on the topic of minorities, let’s not exclude Asians. According to an article in Asian week titled Economic disparities for Minorities Sharpen in Recessions, reporter Christina Fernandez-Pereda states, “In the wake of foreclosures, Asian Americans have had the sharpest decline in home ownership among minorities, with a 1.24 percent drop in 2008.”
In regards to how class systems are impacted during a recession, research indicates that lower class of course is driven into an even worse economic state during a dwindling economy, but the middle class seems to apparently be the class group who suffers the most. According to news giant Reuters, reporter Lucia Mutikani, in the article In recession, poverty strikes middle class, Mutikani Chaun Frost covers a story on how a woman named Chuan Frost who was once middle class takes a step down in class like many middle class families did. For instance, Mutikani states “The collapse of the U.S. housing market means many middle class people are either living in poverty or are one pay check away from hard times.”
In reading articles in Ms. Magazine as it relates to the race and gender implications of a recession, Rescue Remedy: Don’t forget women during the economic recovery by: Martha BurkWinter 2009 pg.57, it is easy to say that with today’s recession both men and women are being hit hard when it comes to the loss of jobs. But the question now is, are men and women equally getting hit as hard? Through this article and the research conducted it has shown that women are getting the worse end of the recession. According to Burk, “A report by the Joint Economic Committee last July showed that in industries that lost the most jobs during the last recession, women’s job losses outstripped those of men. In fact, the recession of 2001 could be dubbed the “women’s recession” because it was the first in decades during which women not only lost jobs but also did not see their employment rates recover to their prerecession peak.” In 2008 the recession did turn slightly positive for women due to the fact that healthcare jobs are slightly growing. With this economy the jobs that women are landing and being able to hold onto are health and child care jobs. Unfortunately the positions in the health and child care are “low-wage and dead-end” according to Eileen Appelbaum. The plan that Obama has created to give American 2.5 million more jobs are only going to go to men due to the nature of most of the jobs being created are construction based. When Wider Opportunities for Women heard about Obama’s plan they immediately prepared a report for congress on strategies employers can use to include women as full partners in infrastructure and green jobs. Another solution would be to have the new president streamline health care record keeping and put more into education not just rebuilding the schools but making sure the educators are more well reimbursed for there careers, and a correction to the unemployment benefit rules would also help. These simple changes can help the economy and women both get back on there feet. In conclusion during these hard times of the recession like Appelbaum says to her husband, “Remember the ladies”.
In reading a second article published in Ms. Magazine, We come across Up with Women in the Downturn by: Randy Albelda Spring 2009 pg.35. In reading this article, it should be known that women in this economy are trying to be as equal as men. Unfortunately things are not turning out as they wanted. Women who have jobs outside the home are still chained to the typical house and child care chores on top of a typical work day. In a study conducted between 2003 and 2007 it showed that women in the work world still do an average of 4.5 hours of house and child care compared to men’s 2.5 hours. Even though women are taking on more responsibilities than men when it comes to holding a job and taking care of house hold chores and children or elderly, they are still not being paid equitably. According to Albedla, “In 2008 women 25 years and older working full time were still earning just 78 cents on a man’s dollar.” Not only are women earning less money, but when it comes to owning homes and the mortgage loans women, especially women of color, are being targeted by purveyors for high risk loans, even when women on average have better credit rates than men. Not only are the wage difference between men and women unfair, the unemployment rates are also causing women to get the brunt of the jobs. Most women who were laid off were able to only find jobs in part time.
Moreover, this unfortunately means that they will be earning less money and less likely to receive benefits. According to Albedla, “Women of color face even higher unemployment than do white women: In February 2009, the unemployment rate for white women 20 years and older was 6.1 percent, but African American women and Latinas were burdened by unemployment rates of 9.9 percent and 10.2 percent respectively.” With unemployment you would think comes the availability to file for unemployment in order to collect some money but for women once again this is not the case. Because theses women who do get jobs but are then laid off, the jobs they had did not make them enough money or give them enough hours for them to meet the requirements for unemployment insurance. On the positive side for women is The American Recovery and Investment Act which was signed February 19. This Act according to Albedla, “offers women a good deal, both in terms of targeted funds to sectors in which large numbers of women are employed, as well as in human infrastructure investments.” With the work of the Act into place and women still fighting for equal rights especially when it comes to pay in the work world, we can slowly pull ourselves out of the recession and start to rebuild the support for women (and men) that have lost there jobs.
In reading a third Ms. Magazine How we’re doing: Minding the Gap Author unknown Spring 2010 pg.11, author unknown, the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, presents readers information that is troubling. It appears that women suffer even more during recessions. The data provided in this article show us that White males make the most money, following white females and then there is a dramatic plunge the financial earnings of a colored man and the female follows with an even deeper financial plunge as she earns even less money than a colored man. According to the article a quote states, "As a result in 2007, their median wealth – the total of their income, assets and debt – was shocking low.” This kind of information allow us to once again see the gaps that exist in our country and how their really is a social hierarchy that exists. A graph including statistics providing the information above can be found on the upper right hand side column.
According to an article in the New York Times titled, Off the Charts-America's Great Recession Wasn't the Worst, repoter Floyd Norris states, " Yet among the world’s major industrialized economies, the American recession was among the least severe. And the United States is ahead of most other countries in recovering the lost ground." In addition he states, " The accompanying charts show detailed performances of four large industrialized economies, the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain. The other three fell further than the United States, with drops ranging from 6.4 percent in Britain to 8.7 percent in Japan; each has further to go to recover to prerecession levels." The informations below shares with readers what the implications of a recession are not only race and class, but it reflects on how other nations are affected as well. A lot of people do depend on America and if our economy suffers, it means that others do as well and sometimes they suffer even worse. When other countries suffer during recessions, that is even worse news for them because they face even bigger implications when it comes to the affects on race and class and other nations economy's during recessions. The graph for this is provided in a picture graph to the right of the blog.
Hopefully, the information below has given readers a better idea about how recession allows people to see thegaps that exist among particular social groups and are able to understand part of the reason why certain social groups are in some cases greatly impacted and left out. Regrettably, recession allow the social inequalities that exist worsen. What makes race and class more of a social issue in a recession is that people get to see how just how much class and race are unequal and how the social inequalities of race and class during a recession weakens our relationships among the social categories that exist today. Social issues like a recession unfortunately also helps to understand the intersections of race and class. More importantly, what we need to realize with the information that has been provided above is recession not only hit the social categories of race, class, nation, but it includes gender as well. The information above helps us to understand the intersections of gender, race, and class during recessions and how it further complicates our already unequal social practices in America and beyond America.
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