This report presents new evidence of how trade-related job losses are impacting women workers. It shows how women workers are concentrated in industries which have been drastically affected by the surge in cheap imports over the past decade. The report also shows that current policy responses to dislocations faced by women workers are woefully insufficient, with many laid off women workers receiving little help in securing comparably paying jobs or handling family obligations as they participate in retraining and conduct employment searches.
The United States should continue to engage in an open global economy in the years ahead. But in light of the trends documented in this report, that engagement must be coupled with a much more comprehensive set of policies to help workers and families navigate the economic restructuring that has become an inevitable part of increasing trade and globalization.
