Women & the Economy

Women have always been integral to the economy, whether they are managing their households or bringing new skills and capacity to the labor force. Important policies put in place over the past four decades have enabled women to gain a foothold in the labor market, but inequalities remain in their wages and career advancement, despite women’s higher education levels. The Great Recession and the still-plodding recovery hit women in North Carolina especially hard. Both have compounded the effect of the structural inequalities women have been facing for many years.