In terms of labor force and employment, women struggle more than men. This is a bit different than the Great Recession.

Employment Initial Pandemic Hit 

• February to April Female Employment: 74.865 Million to 61.478 million, a decline of 13.387 million. 
• Female employment declined 17.9%
• February to April Male Employment: 83.867 Million to 71.892 million, a decline of 11.975 million. 
• Male employment declined of 13.8%

Employment Current Decline

• February to April Female Employment: 74.865 Million to 70.572 million, a decline of 4.293 million.
• Female employment is down 5.7%
• February to April Male Employment: 83.867 Million to 79.666 million, a decline of 4.201 million.
• Male employment is down 5.0%

Employment and Labor Force 2000-Present

Great Recession vs Covid Recession

In the Great Recession, unlike now, male employment was hit much harder and sooner than Female employment. 

However, the dotted lines show that once the recession finally ended, male employment recovered much faster.

Given that women dominate restaurant, cleaning, and service employment in general, we should expect women to take a bigger hit up front and have a slower recovery as well. 

That is how it's playing out.