Women now outnumber men in the paid workforce. This is raising alarm bells for many as they worry about the decline in good jobs for middle- and working- class men as well as the downstream effects, such as declining marriage rates, and men who have dropped out of the labor market entirely. The good news is there are many possible ways to help male workers. But they aren’t going to fit into a 280-character tweet about the gender wars.
The federal government recently released this remarkable statistic: When it comes to non-farm jobs, there are more gals than guys. This has happened before. More women than men were working during the Great Recession in 2009, as well as right before the 2020 pandemic. Overall, however, the changes in male vs. female workforce participation are dramatic. In 1990, there were about 7 million more employed men than women. Today? The gender gap has narrowed to nothing.
The Left looks at these stats and interprets them as a story of women’s empowerment and female career success. Many conservatives, by contrast, see potential long-term negative impacts on the social fabric, including fewer marriages and children. Stepping back to look at the full picture of male and female employment, however, provides another option: We don’t need to have another round of the gender wars in 2026. To be clear, male unemployment is a serious issue that should receive sustained attention from politicians interested in the common good. However, prudent policymakers should consider how to help American men find good jobs while resisting calls to place them in a zero-sum competition with women.
Ivana Greco is a Senior Fellow at Capita.