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  • Monetary Policy Report Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Expectations for Future Growth Were Mostly Unchanged

    National Summarysheaves of paper

    This report was prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond based on information collected on or before April 10, 2023. This document summarizes comments received from contacts outside the Federal Reserve System and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials.

    Overall Economic Activity
    Overall economic activity was little changed in recent weeks. Nine Districts reported either no change or only a slight change in activity this period while three indicated modest growth. Expectations for future growth were mostly unchanged as well; however, two Districts saw outlooks deteriorate. Consumer spending was generally seen as flat to down slightly amid continued reports of moderate price growth. Auto sales remained steady overall, with only a couple of Districts reporting improved sales and inventory levels.

    Travel and tourism picked up across much of the country this period. Manufacturing activity was widely reported as flat or down even as supply chains continued to improve. Transportation and freight volumes were also flat to down, according to several Districts. On balance, residential real estate sales and new construction activity softened modestly. Nonresidential construction was little changed while sales and leasing activity was generally flat to down. Lending volumes and loan demand generally declined across consumer and business loan types. Several Districts noted that banks tightened lending standards amid increased uncertainty and concerns about liquidity. The majority of Districts reported steady to increasing demand and sales for nonfinancial services. Agriculture conditions were mostly unchanged in recent weeks while some softening was reported in energy markets.

    Labor Markets
    Employment growth moderated somewhat this period as several Districts reported a slower pace of growth than in recent Beige Book reports. A small number of firms reported mass layoffs, and those were centered at a subset of the largest companies. Some other firms opted to allow for natural attrition to occur, and to hire only for critically important roles. Contacts reported the labor market becoming less tight as several Districts noted increases to the labor supply. Additionally, firms benefited from better employee retention, which allowed them to hire for open roles while not constantly trying to back-fill positions. Wages have shown some moderation but remain elevated. Several Districts reported declining needs for off-cycle wage increases compared to last year.

    Prices
    Overall price levels rose moderately during this reporting period, though the rate of price increases appeared to be slowing. Contacts noted modest-to-sharp declines in the prices of nonlabor inputs and significantly lower freight costs in recent weeks. Nevertheless, producer prices for finished goods rose modestly this period, albeit at a slightly slower pace. Selling price pressures eased broadly in manufacturing and services sectors. Consumer prices generally increased due to still-elevated demand as well as higher inventory and labor costs. Prices for homes and rents leveled out in most Districts but remained at near record highs. Contacts expected further relief from input cost pressures but anticipated changing their prices more frequently compared to previous years.

  • Jo Freeman Reviews: When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America

    When the News Broke
    Reviewed by Jo Freeman
     
     
    When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America

    by Heather Hendershot
    Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
    400 pages with 32 photos
    Hardcover: $30.  pdf $29.99
     
    In 1968, change was happening all over the world. In the United States mounting opposition to the war in Viet Nam and several burgeoning social movements all demanded attention.  People representing many of these came to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago in hopes of reaching the larger public with their message. Author Heather Hendershot writes about the news media – especially the three network TV companies – at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
     
    What would the news networks cover?
     
    This book appealed to me because I was outside the convention.  What I saw of the inside shenanigans was from a TV screen, when I could find one. Until I read this book I did not know that Mayor Daley, aka King Richard I, had maneuvered the media to minimize TV coverage inside and out.
     
    For roughly three decades three TV networks – CBS, NBC and ABC – competed for audience, ads and acceptance.  In addition to entertainment, they provided breaking news every evening, as well as some analysis and occasional commentary. The networks came to Chicago knowing that 1968 was not an ordinary year, but not knowing what to expect.
     
    That’s why the title is a double entendre. Breaking news is what the networks reported.  The network system broke in 1968.  Coverage of the Democratic Convention in Chicago was denounced by the Democratic Party overlords as biased.  Over time, other authorities damned the press less for bias and more for being downright fake.  As the US split into red and blue states, it was assumed that the media was not neutral in reporting the news.
     
    As the author points out, the “convention was many things to many people.”  She sorts them into four groups.  The “realists” wanted things to go off without a hitch (you could also call these the party people).  The “idealists” were mostly delegates for the many dissidents within the party who nonetheless wanted the Democrats to succeed, but only with support for their issues.  “Outsiders” were mostly members of minority groups, some of whom were delegates, mostly from Southern states.  They wanted recognition and inclusion.  Then there were the “protestors,” who weren’t just anti-war activists.  Indeed the Yippies were the most photogenic; they nominated a pig for president.

  • Gender Wage Gap Widens Even as Low-wage Workers See Strong Gains Women Are Paid Roughly 22% Less Than Men on Average

    Posted March 29, 2023 at 12:40 pm by Elise Gould and Katherine deCourcy        inequities in salary

     

     

    Last week, we released the latest State of Working America Wages Report, which highlighted historically fast real wage growth for low-wage workers between 2019 and 2022. Even after taking into account higher inflation, the 10th percentile hourly wage grew 9.0% over that three-year period, significantly faster than at an equivalent point from any other business cycle peak in recent history.

    This tremendous wage growth occurred because policymakers took a different path in the pandemic recession and passed vital relief and recovery measures at the scale of the problem, which created a strong labor market. Unfortunately, despite this recent period of growth, wage levels for U.S. workers at the bottom of the earnings distribution remain low, making it difficult to make ends meet in any county or metro area.

    While low-wage workers experienced welcome gains, we were surprised to find that the gender pay gap widened, even though women are disproportionately more likely to be lower-wage workers. We found that the gender wage gap grew across three measures: the median, the average, and a regression-adjusted average (i.e., controlling for age, race/ethnicity, education, and geographic division). Here, we delve deeper into the question of what happened to women’s wages vis-a-vis men’s over the last three years as well as the large wage gaps that remain across educational attainment and are worse for Black and Hispanic women.

    The gender wage gap

    Between 2019 and 2022, the gender wage gap remained stubbornly large even as lower-wage workers experienced gains. Women, on average, were paid 20.3% less than men in 2019. By 2022, that gap widened to 22.2%. Similarly, the regression-adjusted wage gap, which has been stagnant for most of the last 20+ years, widened slightly from 22.6% to 22.9%. Much of the growing wage gap at the average (unconditional and regression-adjusted) is driven by men’s higher wages and faster wage growth at the top of the wage distribution. When we look instead at wage growth at the middle of the wage distribution—the 40th to 60th percentiles—a different story emerges. In 2019, these middle-wage women were paid on average 16.2% less than middle-wage men. In 2022, that wage gap narrowed to 15.4%, a small but promising move in the right direction. 

    The experience of men and women across the wage distribution differs considerably depending on how it’s measured, but the gender wage gap persists no matter how it’s measured. Women are paid less than men as a result of occupational segregation, devaluation of women’s work, societal norms, and discrimination, all of which took root well before women entered the labor market. Figure A shows the wage gap at the 10th and 90th percentiles, the average of the 40th–60th percentiles, and the overall average.1 At all parts of the wage distribution, women are paid less than men.

    The wage gap is smallest among lower-wage workers, in part due to the minimum wage creating a wage floor. The wage gap grows with wage level.2 At the 10th percentile, women are paid $1.55 less an hour, or 11.4% less than men, while at the middle the wage gap is $3.81 an hour, or 15.4%. These low- and middle-wage gaps translate into annual earnings wage gaps of over $3,000 and $7,900, respectively, for a full-time worker. The 90th percentile is the highest wage category we can compare due to issues with topcoding in the data, which make it difficult to measure wages at the top of the distribution, particularly for men. Women are paid $15.05 less an hour, or 23.1% less, than men at the 90th percentile. That would translate into an annual earnings wage gap of over $31,000 for a full-time worker. On average, the gender wage gap is nearly $8 an hour, or 22.2%.

  • KFF Health News: The Drug Company That Prospered Without Creating Any Drugs

     sen. Elizabeth Warren

    Arthur Allen April 13, 2023

    The new drug looked so promising — except for that one warning sign.

    At the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting in 2008, Duke University’s Dr. John Sundy proudly announced that pegloticase, a drug he’d helped develop, was astoundingly effective at treating severe gout, which affects perhaps 50,000 Americans. In about half of those who had taken it, the drug melted away the crystalline uric acid deposits that encrusted their joints to cause years of pain, immobility, or disfigurement.

    But Sundy also disclosed an unsettling detail: In one clinical trial, patients who got the drug were more likely to develop heart problems than those who didn’t. The day after Sundy’s talk, the stock price of Savient Pharmaceuticals, which developed the drug with Duke scientists, plunged 75%.

    That danger signal would disappear in later studies, and the FDA approved pegloticase, under the trade name Krystexxa, two years later. But the small biotech company never recovered. In 2013, Savient was sold at auction to Crealta, a private equity venture created for the purpose, for $120 million.

    Right, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

    Two years later, a young company now called Horizon Therapeutics bought Crealta and its drug portfolio for $510 million.

    Even at that price, it proved a good deal. Krystexxa brought in $716 million in 2022 and was expected to earn $1 billion annually in coming years.

    Although Horizon says it now has 20 drugs under development, in its 15 years of existence it has yet to license a product it invented. Yet the company has managed to assemble a war chest of lucrative drugs, in the process writing a playbook for how to build a modern pharmaceutical colossus.

    As the White House and both parties in Congress grapple with reining in prescription drug prices, Horizon’s approach reveals just how difficult this may be.

    Horizon’s strategy has paid off handsomely. Krystexxa was just one of the many shiny objects that attracted Amgen, a pharmaceutical giant. Amgen announced in December that it intends to buy Horizon for $27.8 billion, in the biggest pharmaceutical industry deal announced in 2022.

    Horizon’s CEO, Tim Walbert, who will reportedly get around $135 million when the deal closes, has mastered a particular kind of industry expertise: taking drugs invented and tested by other people, wrapping them expertly in hard-nosed marketing and warm-hued patient relations, raising their prices, and enjoying astounding revenues.

    He’s done this with unusual finesse — courting patients with concierge-like attention and engaging specialist clinicians with lunches, conferences, and research projects, all while touting his own experience as a patient with a rare inflammatory disease. Walbert’s company has been particularly adept at ensuring that insurers, rather than patients, bear the costly burdens of his drugs.

    A federal prosecutor in 2015 began examining allegations that Horizon’s patient assistance program had worked with specialty pharmacies to evade insurers’ efforts to shun Horizon’s expensive drugs. A separate probe opened in 2019 over alleged kickbacks to pharmacy benefit managers, companies that negotiate to get Horizon’s drugs covered by insurers. Those investigations appear to be no longer active, Horizon spokesperson Catherine Riedel said. The company this year disclosed a third probe, concerning methods the company allegedly used to get prior authorization of its drugs. Justice officials did not respond to requests for comment on the investigations.

  • Women’s Congressional Policy Institute, Bills Introduced: Child Assistance Program, Men’s and Women’s Fairness in College Sports

    BILLS INTRODUCED: MAY 15-19, 2023  

    Employment 

    S. 1714—Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)/Finance (5/18/23)—A bill to provide paid family leave benefits to certain individuals, and for other purposes.

    S. 1722—Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/18/23)—A bill to expand access to breastfeeding accommodations in the workplace for certain employees of air carrier employers.

    H.R. 3481—Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)/Ways and Means (5/18/23)—A bill to provide paid family and medical leave benefits to certain individuals, and for other purposes.

    Family Support

    S. 1593—Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)/Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (5/15/23)—A bill to extend eligibility of new moms for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

    S. 1604—Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA)/Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (5/15/23)—A bill to increase the age of eligibility for children to receive benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3332—Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)/Education and the Workforce Committee (5/15/23)—A bill to extend eligibility for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for new moms, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3364—Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)/Education and the Workforce (5/16/23)—A bill to increase the age of eligibility for children to receive benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and for other purposes.

    S. 1738—Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)/Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (5/18/23)—A bill to establish a grant program to address the crises in accessing affordable housing and child care through the co-location of housing and child care, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3540—Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)/Education and the Workforce (5/18/23)—A bill to change the competitive bidding process for infant formula manufacturers under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and for other purposes.

    Health

    S. 1601—Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to protect moms and babies against climate change, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3302—Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to protect moms and babies against climate change, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3386—Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA)/Homeland Security (5/16/23)—A bill to require hygienic handling of breast milk and baby formula by security screening personnel of the Transportation Security Administration and personnel of private security companies providing security screening, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3387—Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA)/Energy and Commerce; Education and the Workforce; Ways and Means (5/16/23)—A bill to provide for certain health coverage of newborns.

    Human Trafficking

    H.R. 3546—Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL)/Judiciary (5/18/23) —A bill to direct the Attorney General, in coordination with the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, to study the prevalence and instances of human trafficking at adult entertainment clubs in the United States, and for other purposes.

    International

    H.R. 3477—Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)/Foreign Affairs (5/18/23)—A bill require a report on the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.

    Judiciary

    H.R. 3344—Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)/Judiciary (5/15/23)—A bill to end the shackling of pregnant individuals, and for other purposes.

    Military

    S. 1610—Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)/Armed Services (5/16/23)—A bill to authorize administrative absences and travel and transportation allowances for members of the Armed Forces to travel and obtain reproductive health care.

    S. 1623—Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)/Armed Services (5/16/23)—A bill to extend the authority of the Department of the Army to carry out a child development center project in Fort Gordon, Georgia.

    Reproductive Health

    S. 1594—Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to convene a task force to develop strategies and coordinate efforts to eliminate preventable maternal mortality, and for other purposes.

    S. 1599—Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to provide for grants to promote representative community engagement in maternal mortality review committees, and for other purposes.

    S. 1602—Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to provide grants to address maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders, and for other purposes.

    S. 1603—Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to increase vaccination rates of pregnant and postpartum individuals, and for other purposes. 

    S. 1605—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to authorize appropriations for data collection, surveillance, and research on maternal health outcomes during public health emergencies, and for other purposes. 

    S. 1606—Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/15/23)—A bill to end preventable maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and maternal health disparities in the United States, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3304—Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to authorize appropriations for data collection, surveillance, and research on maternal health outcomes during public health emergencies, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3305—Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL)/Energy and Commerce; Education and the Workforce; Veterans’ Affairs; Natural Resources; and the Judiciary (5/15/23)—A bill to end preventable maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and maternal health disparities in the United States, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3310—Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to end preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the United States and close disparities in maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3312—Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to address maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3320—Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS)/Energy and Commerce; Natural Resources (5/15/23)—A bill to improve maternal health data collection processes and quality measures, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3322—Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to address social determinants of maternal health to eliminate maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and maternal health disparities, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3346—Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to direct the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to implement the Perinatal Care Alternative Payment Model Demonstration Project to test various payment models with respect to maternity care provided to pregnant and postpartum individuals, and for other purposes. 

    H.R. 3348—Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)/Energy and Commerce (5/15/23)—A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to maternal vaccination awareness and equity, and for other purposes. 

    S. 1656—Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)/Commerce, Science, and Transportation (5/17/23)—A bill to protect the privacy of personal reproductive or sexual health information, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3420—Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA)/Energy and Commerce (5/17/23)—A bill to protect the privacy of personal reproductive or sexual health information, and for other purposes.

    S. 1698—Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/18/23)—A bill to require group health plans and group or individual health insurance coverage to provide coverage for over-the-counter contraceptives.

    S. 1699—Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (5/18/23)—A bill to support the use of technology in maternal health care, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3471—Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK)/Energy and Commerce (5/18/23)—A bill to preempt states from establishing, implementing, or enforcing any ban on the prescription, provision, or use of a drug, biological product, or device for contraception if such drug, biological product, or device is approved, licensed, cleared, or otherwise authorized for human use by the Food and Drug Administration for contraception, and for other purposes.

    Tax Policy

    H.R. 3352—Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)/Ways and Means; Judiciary (5/15/23)—A bill to treat diapers as qualified medical expenses; and to prohibit states and local governments to impose a tax on the retail sale of diapers.

    Veterans

    H.R. 3303—Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL)/Veterans’ Affairs (5/15/23)—A bill to provide support for programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs relating to the coordination of maternity health care, and for other purposes.

    H.R. 3428—Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY)/Veterans’ Affairs; Armed Services (5/17/23)—A bill to recognize and honor the service of individuals who served in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II, and for other purposes.

    Women’s History

    H.R. 3354—Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA)/Oversight and Accountability (5/15/23)—A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 220 North Hatcher Avenue in Purcellville, Virginia, as the “Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Post Office Building.”

     

     

    Bringing women policymakers together across party lines to advance

    issues of importance to women and their families.
     

    Weekly Legislative Update

    April 10, 2023
     

    Bills Introduced: April 3-7, 2023  

     

    Child Care 

     

    H.R. 2540—Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)/Ways and Means (4/6/23)—A bill to establish a universal child assistance program, and for other purposes. 

     

    Education 

     

    H.R. 2532—Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)/Education and the Workforce (4/6/23)—A bill to establish a Commission on Men’s and Women’s Fairness in College Sports.

     

    Employment 

     

    H.R. 2528—Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA)/Education and the Workforce; Oversight and Accountability; House Administration (4/6/23)—A bill to permit leave to care for an adult child, grandchild, or grandparent who has a serious health condition, and for other purposes.  

     

    International 

     

    H.R. 2492—Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)/Foreign Affairs (4/6/23)—A bill to restrict the availability of federal funds to organizations associated with the abortion industry. 

     

    Reproductive Health 

     

    H.R. 2480—Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE)/Energy and Commerce (4/6/23)—A bill to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance on coverage under the Medicaid program of certain pelvic health services furnished during the postpartum period, and for other purposes.

     

    Small Business 

     

    H.J. Res. 50—Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX)/Financial Services (4/3/23)—A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Small Business Lending Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B).” [Covered financial institutions currently are required to collect and report to the CFPB data on applications for credit for small businesses, including those that are owned by women or minorities.] 

     

    Women’s History

     

    H. Res. 279—Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)/Oversight and Accountability (4/6/23)—A resolution supporting the designation of April 10 as “Dolores Huerta Day,” in honor of the accomplishments and legacy of Dolores Huerta.  

  • Ferida Wolff’s Backyard, A Natural Path

    As our communities become more urbanized, the natural features around us tend to get pushed into the background and often go unnoticed. In “Ferida’s Backyard,” I look at the details of nature locally, from a neighborhood perspective, frequently from a backyard vantage point. It excites me to share what I see.  An awareness of the natural connection can beautifully enhance our lives.  

    Ferida's Natural Path

     

    A Natural Path

    There are so many natural paths close to where I live. Some are township properties, others are privately owned but open to the public. They often include waterways that add a peaceful element to the surrounding walkways.

    As Winter changes to Spring, the colors start to emerge and plants blossom to make a walk even more delightful. Others seemed to be enjoying the path we recently discovered as well. We took a gentle walk on this pleasant day and let nature embrace us with beauty and peace.

    I find this activity so simple and calming that I like to do it often during the nice weather. And each season nature invites us to share in the changes, to see the variety that exists naturally. I hope that everyone has access to a calming place, a space to take a deep breath and let go of any worries.   

    Ferida Wolff for SeniorWomen.com

     Calm: From the Merriam Webster Dictionary

    Synonyms of calm
    1
    a: a period or condition of freedom from storms, high winds, or rough activity of water

    a sailing ship motionless in the calm

     
    b: complete absence of wind or presence of wind having a speed no greater than one mile (1.6 kilometers) per hour see Beaufort Scale Table
     
    2: a state of tranquility
    At dusk a quiet calm settled over the town.

     

    calm

    2 of 3

    verb

    calmed; calming; calms

    intransitive verb

    : to become calm 

     

    —usually used with down

    The mayor asked the protesters to calm down so he could speak.

     

    transitive verb : to make calm 

    — often used with down

    calm him down; get him to be reasonable — S. H. Adams

    calm

    3 of 3

    adjective

    1: marked by calm : STILL
    a calm sea 
     
    2: free from agitation, excitement, or disturbance
     
    calmly adverb
    calmness noun

     

     

  • Federal Reserve Notes: Gender Gaps in the Labor Market Widen Every Summer Contributing to Gender Disparities in Promotions and Pay

    March 24, 2023

    Gender Gaps in the Labor Market Widen Every Summer

    Brendan M. Price and Melanie Wasserman1

    Introduction

    Gender gaps in labor market activity are pervasive, longstanding, and a regular subject of policy debates. Relative to men, women tend to work fewer hours per week, more conventional hours, and fewer years over the course of their lives.2These differences in the intensity and timing of work contribute to gender disparities in promotions and pay.3 But despite decades of research on this topic, little attention has been paid to the timing of work throughout the year. To motivate our inquiry, Figure 1 plots the monthly labor force participation rates of prime-age US women and men using non–seasonally adjusted data, with June, July, and August shaded gray. Summer after summer, women’s labor force participation drops sharply while men’s participation does not.

    Figure 1. The summer drop in prime-age female labor force participation
    Figure 1. The summer drop in prime-age female labor force participation. See accessible link for data.

    Note: Non–seasonally adjusted labor force participation rates among individuals aged 25–54, normalized to zero in December 2019. Shaded regions correspond to the months of June, July, and August.

    Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics.

    Accessible version

    In this Note, we summarize some of the key findings from our research paper “The Summer Drop in Female Employment”, available at SSRN (https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4352186). First, we document that women’s employment and hours worked fall consistently during the summer months. Next, we show that school closures for summer break — and consequent lapses in school-provided childcare—are the root cause of these declines. We then explain how women’s lower employment rate over the summer reflects both sectoral sorting and gender disparities among workers in similar job types. Lastly, we discuss ramifications for the gender gap in pay.

  • Jo Freeman Reviews: Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé

    Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé

    by Elizabeth Cobbs
    Cambridge, MA, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, viii + 480 pages, 20 photos
    hardcover, $35.00
     Fearless Women: Feminiist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyonce
    By Jo Freeman
     
    Who are the feminist patriots and where did they come from? Covering US history since 1776, this book tackles women’s drive for equality, or at least access, to sixteen  different “rights” starting with education and ending with physical safety.  Cobbs calls the women who pursued this goal  “feminist patriots.”
     
    Most chapters profile two women, a public figure and a private one who nonetheless wrote about her life. Even the public figure profiles have information that few of us knew.  For example, we’ve all read about Abigail Adams’ admonition to John to “Remember the Ladies” while he was in Philadelphia with the Continental Congress.  How many know John’s reply? Read to find out.
     
    To appreciate the problems women faced during the revolutionary era, we need to remember that Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England was the legal textbook of the new county.  In it he described “coverture” by which “the husband and wife are as one, and that one is the husband.”  This gave the husband an absolute right over the wife, body and mind, including the right to discipline her as he pleased.  
     
    Abigail Adams is paired with Abigail Bailey, a runaway wife who was “wedded to a rapist who took advantage of the tyranny that coverture allowed.”  Indeed, the first wave of the “woman movement” was to free married women from the restraints of coverture.  Suffrage was the second wave, or maybe the third, depending on what is counted.

  • A Yale Medicine Doctor Explains How Naloxone, a Medication That Reverses an Opioid Overdose, Works

    Family Health

    How Can Over-the-Counter Naloxone Help Prevent Opioid Overdoses?

    BY CARRIE MACMILLAN MARCH 29, 2023

     
    A Yale Medicine doctor explains how naloxone, a medication that reverses an opioid overdose, works.
    graphic representation of naloxone, used to reverse an opioid addiction

     

    As opioid overdoses continue to climb — claiming more than 80,000 American lives in 2021 — the role of naloxone (often known as Narcan®, one of its brand names) is gaining attention.

    Naloxone, which can be administered as a nasal spray or by injection, can quickly reverse an overdose from opioids, including heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. (It will not work on overdoses from cocaine, methamphetamine, or other non-opioid drugs.)

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Narcan (as a nasal spray) for over-the-counter use, which means a prescription is not required and people will be able to buy it in pharmacies, stores, and perhaps even from vending machines later this summer.

    Making naloxone available without a prescription will expand its availability to people who use opioids and are at risk for overdose. It also makes it easier for family members to keep it on hand, if needed, for a loved one with opioid use disorder (OUD), a chronic brain disease characterized by compulsive use of opioids despite harmful consequences.

    Until recently, naloxone has largely been used by health care providers, emergency responders, police, and outreach workers. Laws and rules around how it could be obtained varied by state. Sometimes, individuals would fill a prescription for it at a pharmacy, but they could often obtain it for free from a local health or harm reduction organization or emergency department.

    “It is unequivocally a life-saving medication that works very well at reversing opioid overdoses. The more it is available in the community, the more likely it can help someone during those first critical couple of minutes when they need it,” says Kathryn Hawk, MD, MHS, a Yale Medicine emergency and addiction medicine physician-researcher. “It’s also very safe and won’t harm anybody who uses it.”

    Making naloxone more widely available falls into the broader picture of what is known as harm reduction—promoting services and public health policies that mitigate the harmful effects of drug and alcohol use. Examples of other harm reduction strategies include programs that distribute clean syringes, strips that test for fentanyl in drug supplies, and overdose prevention sites, as well as efforts to reduce the stigma around addiction and increase access to treatment.

    Dr. Hawk says her only concern with the recent approval is cost. “There is a chance that insurers may use the presence of over-the-counter naloxone to reduce insurance coverage of prescribed naloxone to transfer the cost from insurers to patients,” she says.

    The FDA approval only applies to Narcan’s nasal spray. Other formulations and dosages of naloxone will remain available by prescription only, according to an FDA release. The company that makes Narcan, Emergent BioSolutions, has not yet said how much its product will cost.

  • Rules Changes for 2023 Baseball; They May Relate to a Quicker, More Exciting Game. What’s a Balk Again?

    Editor: Just what is a balk* again? baseball fans at an SF Giants Game, 2016

    Fans celebrating in 2016, above

    https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-new-rules-for-2023-faq 

    1) PITCH TIMER

    • 15 seconds with bases empty; 20 seconds with runners on

    • Hitter gets 1 timeout per plate appearance; must be in batter’s box with 8 seconds left

    • Pitchers get two disengagements (pickoff attempts or step-offs) per batter; violations are a balk

    • Limits on pickoff attempts led to 26% increase in stolen base attempts in Minors

    • Pitch timer helped reduce game length by 25 minutes in Minors in ‘22

    2) SHIFT RESTRICTIONS

    • Two infielders must be positioned on either side of 2B when pitch is released

    • All four infielders must have both feet within the infield when pitcher is on rubber

    • Shift restrictions increased batting average and decreased strikeouts in Minors while giving players more opportunity to show off their athleticism

    3) BIGGER BASES

    • 1B, 2B and 3B increased from 15” square to 18” square

    • Bigger bases expected to have positive impact on player safety

    • Distance reduced by 3″ from home to 1st and home to 3rd, reduced by 4.5″ from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd

    • Bigger bases reduced injury events near the bases by more than 13% in the Minors in 2022

    *Balk:

    Definition. A balk occurs when a pitcher makes an illegal motion on the mound that the umpire deems to be deceitful to the runner(s). As a result, any men on base are awarded the next base, and the pitch (if it was thrown in the first place) is waved off for a dead ball