So much for the “pink recession”

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During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s media and left-leaning think tanks were jumping up and down over the purported “pink recession” – the notion that women were being disproportionately impacted by the crisis.

This “pink recession” claim originated from social and economic commentator George Megalogenis, who pointed out that unlike the 1990s recession in which men lost 85% of the jobs, and the 1980s recession in which they lost 76% of the jobs, more than half of the direct workforce victims this time around were female.

These claims were subsequently debunked by ABS data showing that men had suffered bigger job and wage losses than females since the pandemic began in March:

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.