The Great Recession refers to the economic downturn from 2007 to 2009 that took place in the United States of America. The Great Recession was the most severe economic recession in the United States since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
In an article published on June 11th stated that The COVID-19 outbreak and the economic downturn it created increased the ranks of unemployed Americans by more than 14 million, from 6.2 million in February to 20.5 million in May 2020. As a result, the U.S. unemployment rate shot up from 3.8% in February – among the lowest on record in the post-World War II era – to a massive 13.0% in May. That rate was the era’s second-highest, trailing only the level reached in April. The rise in the number of unemployed workers in the United States is much more than it had increased in the Great Recession.
Unemployment among all groups of workers increased sharply in the COVID-19 recession. But the experiences of several groups of workers, such as women and black men, in the COVID-19 outbreak vary particularly from how they experienced the Great Recession.\
Women have been greatly affected by this change. The first reason for them facing these unemployment issues is due to the fact that they accounted for the majority of workers on the employees of businesses in the leisure and hospitality sector and educational services sector in February. Employment in these two sectors fell by 39% and 15% from February to May, respectively, leading most other sectors by a wide margin.
Some countries like India are allowing immigrants to work in their country to help the economy, but the USA seems to dislike that idea. In February, immigrants and U.S.-born workers had similarly low rates of unemployment, 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively. By May, the unemployment rate for immigrants had risen to 15.7%, compared with 12.4% for U.S.-born workers. Most of the immigrants are Hispanic and compared with non-Hispanic workers,
Hispanic workers are relatively young and are less likely to have graduated from college. Additionally, 44% of Hispanic immigrants in the labour force are estimated to have been unauthorized in 2016. These characteristics of Hispanic workers make them more vulnerable to job losses in economic downturns.
What’s happening in the USA isn’t fair, women and immigrants of other cultures aren’t being allowed to work and being let go off by businesses when they need the money more to support their family and pay for other essential commodities. This needs to change immediately, we need to work together during these times and the government fails to understand that
Writer: Anaya Parekh
15/07/2020
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