WASHINGTON, D.C. — The April jobs report released today found that the unemployment rate for adult women ticked down a tenth of a percent to 5.6%, even as the national unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1%. There were 219,000 fewer adult women in the labor force in April compared to March. The labor force participation rate for adult women fell 0.2%, bringing the number to 57.2% total.
Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at Independent Women’s Forum, issued the following statement:
“This jobs report is concerning for female workers and underscores how K-12 school reopening policy is slowing the workplace comeback for women. It’s troubling that 219,000 more women had given up on working or finding work last month. It’s clear that the flip-flopping by Washington bureaucrats on guidelines for the safe reopening of schools continues to have a direct, negative impact on the advancement of women in the labor force.
“The Biden administration has put special interests ahead of science by caving to pressure from teachers’ unions. Meanwhile, women who want to work are giving up their careers to oversee their children’s education. If there’s ever been a gender inequality issue, this is it, and President Biden is earning a failing grade.
“It’s time for policymakers to stop allowing teachers’ unions to hold our children’s education hostage. Prioritizing full-time, in-person instruction this fall would serve our kids well and give working mothers the certainty to pursue employment opportunities again. Better yet, give parents the ability to opt out of the public schools that have failed them so miserably this past year so they can enroll their kids at a school that will put their needs first.”
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