Did you happen to see the article in the New York Times entitled “As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in the Job Force?” Fascinating. Apparently 82 percent of recent layoffs have befallen men in manufacturing, construction and other blue collar industries. Health care and educational institutions, more typically employing women, are less likely to be impacted in a recession. So what does this mean? According to the article, as of November, women held 49.1 percent of the nation’s jobs. Given January’s continuing bad news about budget slashing, women may dominate the American work force for the first time in our country’s history. The implications of this trend are formidable. Child care, gendered roles on the home front, the role of women as the primary breadwinners for the family—all of these elements of our society may be up for an overhaul. Makes me wonder what the world will look like coming out the other end of this historic recession.

The economy has been on my mind a lot—for obvious reasons. After she read my recent letter to alumnae (please see http://emmawillard.org/economy/), one alumna who attended EW during World War II wrote to advise me that I should cancel spring break, as the headmistresses had done in 1944 in their effort to support the war effort by saving fuel. While this alumna noted, “it wasn’t the worst thing that happened to us,” I have a feeling that I might have a harder time getting away with it in 2009. Would love to hear your thoughts about ways we can use the headlines to provide life lessons for our students.