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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Inflation has come down from pandemic highs, but one economist isn't expecting a return to 2%.</li><li>Rate cuts and other changes in the economy point to 3%+ long-term inflation, says Steven Blitz.</li></ul>For the last decade or so, the Federal Reserve's magic number for inflation has been 2%.The central bank has been aiming to keep the long-run inflation rate at this level to maintain stable prices and a healthy economy.And after the runaway prices of the pandemic era, it seems like the Fed is drawing closer to its 2% goal: the inflation rate was 2.4% for the 12-month period ending in September.However, don't count on a return to the 2% era, said Steven Blitz, chief economist at business intelligence firm GlobalData. Blitz believes the economy is on track for higher, not lower, long-term inflation."I think inflation is going to settle around 3%, 3.5%," Blitz told Business Insider in an interview. "There is now a higher base inflation rate than there was before COVID for a number of reasons."The Fed's rate-cutting campaign is certainly a contributing factor to higher future inflation, in Blitz's opinion. In the past, runaway inflation has only returned to 2% after the Fed engineered a hard landing that slowed consumer spending and wage growth, Blitz said. Financial historian <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-fed-powell-mistake-1970s-runaway-stagflation-unemployment-interest-rates-2024-10">Mark Higgins</a> points out that when the Fed cut rates too quickly in the 1960s, inflation spiked and contributed to stagflation in the 1970s.But there are other factors contributing to an increased long-term inflation rate, many of which Blitz tracked even before the pandemic.Debt levels are creeping up, generating an inflationary effect by increasing demand and prices for goods. In terms of consumer and business debt, after the Great Financial Crisis, households and businesses focused on deleveraging their balance sheets, but this trend started reversing after the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2018, Blitz said. Reduced taxes incentivized spending and also increased the national debt. A higher national debt balance can erode confidence in the dollar, further increasing inflation.Changing demographics in the workplace are also driving increasing debt and higher long-term inflation, according to Blitz.The workforce is getting younger as Gen Z employees enter the market and baby boomers and Gen X employees retire, resulting in growing spending power from Gen Z.As millennials age and gain more income, they're entering their prime homebuying years."They're in that part of their life where they normally leverage their balance sheets to take in physical assets," Blitz said. And as more millennials start families and have children, their expenditures will only continue to increase. These demographic changes will stoke consumer demand and, subsequently, inflation.And lastly, inflation is creeping up thanks to changes in international trade, Blitz said. Import penetration, or the amount of foreign goods flowing into the US, is reaching a plateau. Importing cheap goods from overseas has a disinflationary effect by decreasing prices paid by consumers.Blitz believes import penetration in the US is near or has already reached peak levels, meaning that the deflationary impacts of international trade will be muted in the future. With trends such as nearshoring and reshoring driving companies to move their operations closer to domestic markets, import penetration could certainly decline.In Blitz's perspective, all of these factors add up to an inflation rate exceeding 2% going forward.<h2 id="42586d83-d9bb-4112-b404-1a3b9311f18b">Investing for higher inflation</h2>Investors could start seeing persistent inflation take hold within the next year, according to Blitz. The September jobs report is already one early sign of sticky inflation, especially wage inflation, in his opinion.There are a few ways that investors can prepare their portfolios.In a high-interest-rate environment, bonds are less attractive, Blitz said. Bonds suffer from inflation risk because inflation eats into interest rate payments, reducing their real yield. Higher inflation also pushes up yields as investors demand higher compensation, reducing the value of the assets.Instead, look towards the stock market, he said. While increased inflation might hurt the stock market overall, there are some pockets of equities that will benefit. Technology and value stocks typically perform well in the wake of higher inflation, according to Blitz.In a high-inflation environment, companies look to put their capital into more durable investments as the dollar depreciates. Blitz believes the chip industry in particular is an inflation-resilient choice because they supply assets critical to many supply chains.High inflation can be a boon to value stocks because it boosts businesses' margins."In a lower inflation environment, it's harder to grow revenue off of the nominal growth of the economy," Blitz said. That results in outperformance from growth stocks, which investors anticipate will increase profits at a substantially higher pace relative to the rest of the market.In a 3% to 3.5% inflation environment, there's more opportunity for overlooked value stocks to appreciate. High-quality value stocks with stable margins will actually receive a lift from rising prices, especially if they have good cost management, Blitz said.Those looking to increase their exposure to these areas of the stock market can do so through funds such as the iShares Semiconductor ETF (<a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/etfs/ishares-semiconductor-etf-us4642875235?miRedirects=1">SOXX</a>) and the Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF (<a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/etfs/vanguard-value-index-fund-etf-shares-us9229087443?miRedirects=1">VTV</a>).

Why inflation isn't returning to pre-pandemic levels — and 3 trades to capitalize on an overheating economy

As the world grapples with the aftermath of the COVID-19 <keyword id="19913581" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pandemic" source="keywords">pandemic</keyword>, a recent study has illuminated the educational harm suffered by young <keyword id="19929042" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="students" source="keywords">students</keyword> affected by lockdowns. These effects, expected to resonate well into the <keyword id="21440663" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="2030s" source="keywords">2030s</keyword>, have left a lasting impact on pupils, warned the research. Beyond academics, schooling significantly influences students' critical thinking, problem-solving, and emotional development. Thus, any disruption to the education process, particularly at a young age, can severely impede students' overall growth. The study explored the consequences of pandemic-induced school closures on children's socio-emotional and cognitive abilities at ages 5, 11, and 14. Researchers projected that by 2030, fewer than 40% of pupils would achieve a passing grade (grade 5 out of 9) or higher in their English and mathematics GCSEs, compared to 45.3% in 2022-23. For reference, the GCSEs in the UK are akin to the Indian 10th and 12th board examinations. However, researchers especially highlighted the lockdowns' impact on crucial areas like socio-emotional support and well-being, underscoring their significance alongside cognitive skills for <keyword id="21440666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gcse" source="keywords">GCSE</keyword> results. For example, 20% of top performers in cognitive tests at age 14, with average <keyword id="21440665" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="socio-emotional-skills" source="keywords">socio-emotional skills</keyword>, fail to attain five good GCSEs. Additionally, there's a noticeable gender disparity in skill importance, with good cognitive skills playing a larger role for boys and socio-emotional skills being paramount for girls in determining GCSE outcomes. This nuanced insight underscores the complexity of educational achievement. The research not only diagnoses the problem but also suggests pragmatic solutions. Proposals include establishing a national programme of trained undergraduate student tutors to help students enhance their foundational skills and reimagining the school calendar to support teacher well-being and families during breaks. Emily Tanner, an education expert, emphasised the importance of students developing socio-emotional skills alongside academic learning, noting that the report's insights on timing and gender offer a useful basis for targeting effective interventions. The findings of this research can be accessed <a href="https://news.exeter.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nuffield-Report-April-2024.pdf" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.

COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Women are rapidly rejoining the labor force, boosting the economy.</li><li>A rise in remote and hybrid jobs has allowed many women to seek higher-income roles. </li></ul>Women are rapidly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-from-home-women-careers-jobs-pandemic-flexibility-gender-equality-2023-7#:~:text=Today%2C%2077.8%25%20of%20women%20between,by%20a%20strong%20economic%20recovery.">rejoining the labor force</a> — and it's a great sign for the economy.Many women were forced to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/september-jobs-report-women-labor-force-participation-2020-10">leave their jobs during the pandemic</a>, thanks to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-women-pay-gap-quitting-jobs-to-make-more-2022-3">poor market conditions</a> and a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/women-are-working-at-record-highs-2023-8">rising need for childcare and older adult care.</a>Recent data from the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.economy.com/getfile?q=C04AA617-DD47-4882-8016-E2E879B89F69&amp;app=download">US Bureau of Labor and Statistics</a>, however, suggests that women are having a major comeback in the workforce. In the US, around 70% of working-age women participated in the labor force in 2020. That number had jumped to 73% at the end of 2023.In fact, the number of women in the workforce has <a target="_blank" href="https://19thnews.org/2023/09/women-back-to-work-pre-covid-employment-levels-surge/">surpassed pre-pandemic levels</a>.The impact of more women in the workforce trickles down into future professional development for women. For example, women in corporate leadership <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ellevest.com/magazine/personal-finance/great-wealth-transfer-survey?utm_campaign=women-wealth?utm_medium=marketing-site?utm_source=hero-banner">are likely to</a> hire other women, contribute to positive <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/charts-employment-economic-situation-of-women-2022-2">workplace policies</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/women-will-benefit-from-wealth-trends-millennials-boomers-investment-finance2024-3">invest in future generations</a>.An increase in remote and hybrid roles are largely responsible for this workforce growth, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.economy.com/getfile?q=C04AA617-DD47-4882-8016-E2E879B89F69&amp;app=download">report from Moody's Analytics</a> published in February found. Additionally, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/03/30/about-a-third-of-us-workers-who-can-work-from-home-do-so-all-the-time/">a survey</a> from Pew Research Center published in March 2023 found that 41% of people with jobs that can be done remotely work on a hybrid schedule.Women, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/women-will-benefit-from-wealth-trends-millennials-boomers-investment-finance2024-3">especially millennials</a> with families, are facing financial pressures from the high cost of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-childcare-costs-in-us-women-workforce-cheapest-countries-kids-2024-2">childcare</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserve-interest-rate-mortgage-affordable-housing-prices-market-cost-2024-2">housing.</a> Remote jobs also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-us-economy-economic-inflation-unemployment-rate-mothers-remote-work-2023-11">offer more flexibility</a>.The amount of women in entry-level, manager, vice president, and C-suite roles all increased between 2015 and 2023, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.economy.com/getfile?q=C04AA617-DD47-4882-8016-E2E879B89F69&amp;app=download">per Moody's</a>, with the number of women in C-suite roles growing by 11%.More women are also turning to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-makes-six-figures-freelancing-remotely-side-hustle-van-life2024-2">freelance</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-spurs-women-to-choose-flexibility-freelancing-over-office-jobs-2022-12">gig work</a> to maximize their income and lifestyle.The are still fewer women in the labor force than men — 67.9% of men over 25 were <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/employment-differences-of-men-and-women-narrow-with-educational-attainment.htm#:~:text=TED%3A%20The%20Economics%20Daily&amp;text=In%202022%2C%2067.9%20percent%20of,smaller%20as%20educational%20attainment%20increases.">employed in 2022</a>, compared to just 55.4% of women — but increased hybrid options are closing the divide. Moody's research identified <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-up-how-consumer-price-index-looked-december-2024-1">inflation</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-kids-cost-raising-child-inflation-childcare-tax-exemptions-2024-1">high childcare costs</a> as factors that could risk women's recent labor force success.Still, Moody's research shows that the narrowing of labor force gender gaps since 2019 has added $1.5 trillion to global income. Australia, India, Japan, and the European Union have been leading this growth."A silver lining of the havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic may be a permanent shift in attitudes towards working that paves the way for more women to actively engage with the labor market," the report said.Are you a woman who has shifted their career, or found success with remote and gig work? Would you be willing to share your experience? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:allisonkelly@insider.com">allisonkelly@insider.com</a>.

The pandemic forced many women to leave their jobs. Hybrid work is bringing them back. 

<ul><li>The <keyword id="8902449" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19-pandemic">COVID-19 pandemic</keyword> has cost women over $800 billion in lost income in the last year, according to a report by Oxfam International. </li><li>The civil rights organisation belives that women have been more likely to drop out of the work force than men due to 'care responsibilities.'</li><li>The United Nations estimates that an additional 47 million women worldwide will fall into extreme poverty in 2021 because they are overrepresented in sectors worst hit by the pandemic </li></ul> Gender equality was uneven even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crisis has diverged the disparity in incomes between men and women even further. The COVID-19 crisis cost women over $800 billion in lost income. According to <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/covid-19-cost-women-globally-over-800-billion-lost-income-one-year?utm_campaign=fullarticle&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=inshorts">Oxfam International</a>, that’s more than the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of 98 countries. Globally, women lost more than 64 million jobs last year. That’s a loss of 5% for women, compared to a 3.9% dip for men. And it may not even reflect the true extent of the pandemic’s economic impact. “This conservative estimate doesn’t even include wages lost by the millions of women working in the informal economy — domestic workers, market vendors, and garment workers — who have been sent home or whose hours and wages have been drastically cut,” said Gabriela Bucher, the executive director of Oxfam International, in a statement. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Women are ‘shock absorbers’ of sexist social norms" comment="subhead" text="Women are ‘shock absorbers’ of sexist social norms">Women are ‘shock absorbers’ of sexist social norms</cmsannotation> According to Oxfam International, women have been more likely than men to drop out of the workforce or reduce their hours during the pandemic, largely due to ‘care responsibilities’. Even in countries where men’s unemployment rate outpaced that of women, more women left the labour market entirely in 2020, according to data collated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (<a href="https://unctad.org/news/gender-and-unemployment-lessons-covid-19-pandemic">UNCTAD</a>). <div type="image" title="Screenshot_2021-04-29 Gender and unemployment Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic UNCTAD" msid="82311836" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Female participation rates saw a bigger dip than male participation rates&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “As care needs have spiked during the pandemic, women — the shock absorbers of our societies — have stepped in to fill the gap, an expectation so often imposed by sexist social norms,” said Bucher. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the trend that already existed in the system. Before the virus hit, women and girls were already putting in an estimated <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-billionaires-have-more-wealth-46-billion-people#:~:text=The%20world's%202%2C153%20billionaires%20have,WEF)%20in%20Davos%2C%20Switzerland.">12.5 billion hours</a> of unpaid care work daily. The estimated value of that contribution is $10.8 trillion every year — more than three times the size of the global tech industry. It is due to these biased social norms, McKinsey estimates that women’s jobs are <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/covid-19-and-gender-equality-countering-the-regressive-effects#">1.8 times</a> more vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis than men’s jobs. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The impact of the pandemic on women may worsen in the time to come" comment="subhead" text="The impact of the pandemic on women may worsen in the time to come">The impact of the pandemic on women may worsen in the time to come</cmsannotation> The trend of income loss represents a grim picture of what the future may look like for women all over the world. The <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/8/press-release-covid-19-will-widen-poverty-gap-between-women-and-men">United Nations</a> estimates an additional 47 million women worldwide will fall into extreme poverty in 2021 because they are overrepresented in sectors worst hit by the pandemic — this includes tourism, domestic workers, and restaurant employees. "Economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is having a harsher impact on women, who are disproportionately represented in sectors offering low wages, few benefits and the least secure jobs,” said Bucher. This trend is not restricted to the developing world but is also present in some of the richest countries, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/why-has-covid-19-been-especially-harmful-for-working-women/">like the US. </a> “My husband is out of work. My employer dismissed me from my job before lockdown. I could not sleep because of tension and hunger,” Chan Banu, a 25-year old unemployed domestic worker in Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka, told Oxfam. <div type="image" title="20210114083023pm_7024_edited" msid="82311871" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Chan Banu, 25, is an unemployed domestic worker in Dhaka&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Another unemployed domestic worker in Dhaka, 28-year old Aklima, had a similar story to tell. “We have had no work since the lockdown. It’s been three months. We are struggling to find a way to make a living. Everyone is in stress. There is no one to give loans. Domestic workers like me have no savings,” she told Oxfam. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-19-vaccine-india-needs-a-separate-queue-for-second-dose/articleshow/82304003.cms">India may end up wasting millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses if there is no separate queue for second shots</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/cowin-website-is-back-up-after-an-early-crash-finding-a-vaccination-slot-may-still-be-difficult/articleshow/82291583.cms">CoWIN website is back up after an early crash⁠ — finding a vaccination slot may still be difficult</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/covid-19-vaccine-price-sc-wants-the-indian-government-to-explain-about-covishield-and-covaxin-pricing/articleshow/82272913.cms">Supreme Court wants the Indian government to explain vaccine pricing — and clarify how many doses it will need as coverage expands from May 1</a>

COVID-19 cost women over $800 billion in lost income — more than the combined wealth of 98 countries

<ul><li>Many research studies conducted across the world show that women are more stressed and discouraged since the pandemic began as they take on an increasing amount of responsibility at home and in their careers.</li><li>The ad, media and marketing industry has a lot more women today than a decade ago. However, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours and ever-increasing workload.</li><li>So this Women’s Day, we decided to speak to women in leadership positions about how we can make women feel welcome at workplaces. They told us how employers can support women and create a more high-trust, inclusive environment for the future.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li></ul>In the work-from-home era, the responsibility of unpaid domestic work and raising kids has fallen on Indian women more than men. This has affected their ambitions and careers, widening the gender gap at the workplace. A McKinsey report found that women around the world have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has heightened the large and small inequalities—both at work and at home—that women face daily. One in four women are considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers versus one in five men. Women only form less than a third of the workforce in marketing, sales and less than a fifth in data analysis, and artificial intelligence, revealed a World Economic Forum’s 2020 study. Another survey by Deloitte found that 51% of women are less optimistic about their career prospects than they were before the pandemic. A lot of women who have chosen to stick to their jobs have missed out on a fair promotion or raise. A LinkedIn report shows that 85% of women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion because of their gender. Women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected despite increasing flexibility at work, as 68% of women and 74% of working mothers in India say it is difficult to balance career and familial responsibilities today. More than 7 in 10 women and working mothers in India also say that household responsibilities often come in their way of their career progression. As you move up in the hierarchy of the corporate world, there’s also a lack of women leaders in the upper rungs. As per Egon Zehnder Global Diversity Report 2020, women in India occupy 5% of executive chairs and 10% of non-executive chairs. The report indicates that only 11% of committee chairs are held by women, while the number stands at 27.3% globally. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media has seen a lot of <keyword id="3275573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="women-in-leadership-roles" source="Orion">women in leadership roles</keyword>. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. On the other hand, advertising and media are industries that hold a lot of power in shifting perceptions and mending beliefs. The advertising industry was infamous for perpetuating gender stereotypes -- from a sacrificing mother to a man being the bread-earner, the portrayal of women has remained very shallow for years. How brands depict women and their role in society has evolved today, she is independent, she has a voice and is slowly learning to care less about society’s judgement, but we haven’t taken a big leap yet. She is still a woman who is ‘aesthetically pleasing,’ fair-skinned, doesn’t come from a minority community and is a little far from real. There’s almost no progress towards including transwomen in women’s day ads or communication throughout the year. Once we achieve an equal number of gender representation inside Indian advertising agencies, media organisations and the marketing world, there will be diverse opinions in a brainstorming session, leading to better B2C communication. So this women’s day, we decided to speak to women in leadership positions about how we can make women feel welcome at workplaces. They told us how employers can support women and create a more high-trust, inclusive environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they had to say about improving equality at work: Meghana Dave - Head Marketing &amp; PR, Lamborghini India: Power v/s Purpose, women inherently are purpose-driven. The changing environment requires leadership that is driven by adaptability, agility and ambition. Today, companies need these traits to outperform competition which has to deliver in the known and unknown environment. To bring balance and speed with positivity, we need more women in the leadership role. Look at what Falguni Nayyar has done with Nykaa or Anjali Sudd has done with Vimeo. In the 21st century companies will need purpose, innovation and balance to achieve the top position, and the right time to bring women to lead the next generation of business growth. To encourage more women to join these industries by encouraging new formats of working culture or environment. Covid has challenged the traditional approach, and today work from home has become the new normal. Secondly, by promoting diversity and opening leadership positions for women and third, we can improve the pay scale and inculcate mentorship for potential women leaders. Rachna Kanwar, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Media, Radio City and Mid-Day: Women in Corporate India have taken a heavy toll during Covid 19 lockdowns. Organisations, however, rarely recognise the double effort that women have to put into their regular day, which during the pandemic, ravaged their mental and physical health. Having said that, women emerged stronger, seldom seeking ‘preferential treatment.’ Companies need to address and recognise this effort as women continue to remain underrepresented at all levels. Thankfully, in the Media industry, with the inclusion of advertising &amp; marketing, there have been plenty of examples of women super achievers acting as role models for younger women which has led to greater gender parity, but women leaders still need to play a major role in supporting and seeing to it that more leaders emerge from the shadows of doubt and stereotypes to claim their rightful places. It is heartening to see more and more women leaders at Radio City and Midday and all of us here are committed to diversity and excellence. Building a positive mindset for diversity at all levels in an organisation goes a long way in ensuring an equal workplace. Strong women leaders in the organisation act as role models for women aspiring to reach the top. They also help in providing a more empathetic environment which is required at certain delicate stages of a woman employee’s career. And lastly, they provide the much needed confidence both for the women employees and the organisation by being a case study in excellence. At Radio City, a large number of leadership positions are held by women which motivates and inspires the mid-level and entry-level women employees to dream big. Diversity has many virtues and numerous reports time and again have proved that a diverse organisation is a better organisation. Radio City was amongst ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2019.’ Additionally, in 2020, Radio City ranked 4th in ‘Best Large Workplaces in Asia’, according to the GPTW survey. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Syska Group: I think what is happening is we are definitely attracting more women, but are unable to retain them. The industry also needs to take steps to stop showcasing and representing women in stereotypical ways. The truth is women need to start taking credit for their work, brag and self-promote. What men need to understand is with diversity creativity and innovation only booms. I personally feel advertising, media and marketing industries are more unstructured, and there is no one to help you climb that ladder. You will have to do it yourself. More so we need more women, to help support and mentor other women. I think to be a safe and inclusive environment, we really need to listen to our employees. I have always said that my employees are my first customers. Goals and expectations need to be set mutually, team members need to appreciate each other and there has to be a certain level of trust within the team. Megha Agarwal, CXO-Growth, Meesho: In my last 12 years of working, I have seen many smart women entering the workforce but also taking a step back and stepping out, especially at two pivotal points – marriage and motherhood. The societal maxim is such that it places higher expectations on women, compelling them to juggle many roles – wife, mother, primary caregiver among others. What is imperative is to create support structures that empower them to strike the perfect balance between personal and professional commitments. An example on this front could be Meesho’s recent boundaryless workplace model, enabling people to work from home/ anywhere so that it gives flexibility to facilitate adjustments. Additionally, we, as employers, also need to make a perception shift towards sabbaticals taken by women to rear children. These vital steps could be further bolstered by initiatives aimed to ease their comeback into the workforce again. The responsibility lies with us to act as change agents to create the change we aspire to see. Pragya Misra, Public Affairs Director at Truecaller: I have always believed that empathy, freedom to be authentic and listening are critical to building a work environment that promotes equality. This begins with introducing diversity in the leadership so that the perspectives and related challenges of different employee profiles can be properly understood and addressed. Finally, implementing flexible policies, promoting healthy and non-late work hours, having industry standard pay scale and having actionable punishments (and transparency) in place for any intolerant offenses are some of the other measures that can be put into place to ensure a safe and equal work environment. At Truecaller, being respectful, celebrating diversity and equality in the workplace is deeply set in our values as a company. We continue to make communication safer through our spam blocking, scam and fraud alerts, this principle of safety reflects in our workplace through our employee policies. The inability to feel safe in both offline and online spaces adversely impacts women’s confidence and hinders their ability to grow and thrive. This year we are urging people to #CallitOut and report harassment to the authorities when you see or experience it. We are bringing together all the key stakeholders like government, law enforcement, civil society, mental health experts, lawyers and survivors to work collaboratively to improve the safety of women and continue our 5 year long effort to minimise harassment. This year, we want to create an environment that allows women to feel safe in society, their workplace and in their online communication. Kanika Mittal, Large Customer Solutions, Lead at Twitter India: I strongly believe that a leader is only as good as his/her team &amp; therefore our path starts with building a team that looks like the amazing people of all backgrounds and abilities who use our service every day. At Twitter, we're on a journey to become the world's most inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible tech company — it's key to serving the public conversation. For Inclusion &amp; Diversity strategies to have an impact, leaders along with companies need to ensure that they are tackling systemic challenges and also impacting and nurturing inclusive behavior amongst the team. This requires adapting a new way of thinking and making the right decisions such as becoming more distributed, empowering women employees to share and leverage their unique perspectives and experiences for growth and opportunities. Collectively we’ve got work to do to build a truly inclusive culture across the industry. We’ve made steady progress, and as industry our work doesn’t end <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UntilWeAllBelong?src=hashtag_click">#UntilWeAllBelong</a>. Anika Wadhera, Head of Digital Marketing, Sirona: A supportive work environment is one in which each and every employee can discuss job-related difficulties in confidence and without fear of backlash. Actively showing appreciation to the staff, and encouraging them to exhibit appreciation for each other, is an easy and gratifying way to establish a great working atmosphere. Employees, both male and female, should be taught about ethical behavior and how to create a culture that supports everyone's safety. Although enforcing policies and holding instructional sessions are beneficial, a process or system that promotes power equality in the business can be implemented, reducing the number of unpleasant experiences. My advice to all wonderful women around me will be to ’Take a stand for yourself &amp; be vocal. The world is your oyster.’ We as 21st-century women should focus on creating a network; it may be one of the most powerful factors in our career at any level, whether one is a fresher or a senior leader, just network, network &amp; network. Shradha Agarwal, COO &amp; Strategy Head, Grapes: Women at leadership roles play a very crucial role in the comprehensive growth and development of any organization. They are the true manifestation of sustainable growth. A woman inherently is nurturing and being in a leadership position helps her in cultivating an inclusive work culture with diversity at the core of the organizational structure. This diversity is the precursor of diverse ideas that stimulates creativity and champions for more quality in business operations. Women have a warm and welcoming disposition which enables the organization to develop a much stronger bond and connect with their customers. In any workforce, the major loophole at the very base level is the lack of proper guidance to define the roles and duties to be fulfilled by a person. In order to help them realize their true potential, it is important to first connect with the people. By putting themselves in other’s shoes it becomes easier to understand the situation better and provide a relatable solution. As developing a connection and affinity for people comes naturally to women, in leadership positions they are better able to relate with and understand the pain of their teammates. To get women to join the advertising and marketing industry the mantra is very simple, just make them feel they are making ads for themselves. As women are better listeners and good storytellers, one needs to harness these qualities of women to motivate them to pursue a career in this field. They are better adept at giving a diverse perspective and drawing holistic pictures to a narration. Advertising and marketing is not about selling products, it goes way beyond and is about telling the right story. It is about connecting with the brand rather than the product as the products can be replaced but the brand remains constant. And women love and enjoy such jobs, it is just that we need to tap on this quality of women. Sowmya Iyer, Founder and CEO of DVio Digital: Women have faced more significant economic hardships through the pandemic - disproportionately losing jobs and income. A recent report by LinkedIn shows how Covid-19 has impacted women’s careers. About 85% of women in India have missed out on a promotion because of their gender. Despite the increase in flexibility at work, women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected. So, it is safe to say that we are far away from building an inclusive environment for employees of all gender spectrum. Company policies will have to be redefined and relooked at to give women space to work, grow, and balance their careers and Homes. DViO Digital, is an equal opportunity provider. We work towards hiring and promoting our employees based on their merit and not just gender. Our current workforce has a fair divide of 55:45 women to men ratio; a similar trend can be seen in our leadership team, which has a 60:40 ratio (60% women and 40% men), which is not by design but by default. Hence it is safe to say that women are naturally inclined towards the advertising and marketing industry. Tanya Bami - Series Head, Netflix India: The representation of women in entertainment has been increasing with the times and we couldn’t be happier! At Netflix, we are focussed on entertaining the world with authentic stories that are a true reflection of our times and society. Be it Delhi Crime, Aranyak, Masaba Masaba, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, or our latest series The Fame Game, the characters can be determined, driven, fabulous or flawed.” •Since the beginning of 2020, we have collaborated with over 2400 women creators, talent, and crew on and off screen in India. •Half (15) of our original films and series in 2021 had a woman as the central character. • Netflix has 15+ female forward titles already announced for 2022. Apart from the already released Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, Looop Lapeta and The Fame Game, the upcoming titles include Mai, Monica, O My Darling, Masaba Masaba Season 2, Mismatched Season 2, She Season 2, Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives Season 2, The Fame Game, Qala, Plan A Plan B, Khufiya, among others. •In 2021 Netflix worked with nearly 50 women producers, directors or writers (25 women producers and directors + 23 women writers - 2X the women writers in 2020. •In addition, Netflix has worked with incredible women standup comics- Rytasha Rathore, Urooj Ashfaq, Prashasti Singh, Prajakta Koli, Sumukhi Suresh, Mallika Dua, Kaneez Surka and Sumaira Shaikh. •Inclusivity also extends internally to all of us at Netflix as women make up 51.7% of our global workforce, up from 48.7% in 2020. This includes 6.9% growth of women directors and above, totalling 51.1%. Aditi Shrivastava, CEO &amp; Co-Founder, Pocket Aces: It all starts from the top. If there is equality in the mind, it will automatically trickle down to every level within the organization. A few key base rules I always keep in mind: ● Think in terms of equity (not stock options in this case, but what is required to get people to the same level) rather than equality (i.e. providing the exact opportunities to each person) ● Be a true meritocracy ● Even in the most equal households, women are often expected to be the primary caretaker of children or parents, so keep that in mind ● Don’t forget to groom young female talent in the company right from the go by increasing their confidence levels and encouraging them to not be ambivalent about their ambitions and dreams ● Discourage even mildly offensive loose talk / jokes at the workplace ● Have a strong POSH committee in place ● Encourage older male employees / leaders to unlearn from previous “male club” workplaces and see the value their female counterparts can add Overall, be conscious about gender diversity and equity. It won’t happen by chance.

Women in leadership across media, brands and advertising on improving gender representation and retaining women in the workforce

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tourism is bigger than ever, with international tourists set to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2024.</li><li>A new book, "The New Tourist," talks about balancing tourism's impacts and being a mindful traveler.</li></ul>Whether carving their names on the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tourist-recorded-carving-colosseum-walls-sparking-outrage-2023-6">Coliseum in Rome</a> or haphazardly approaching <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tourists-surround-bear-two-cubs-yellowstone-national-park-sparking-debate-2023-8">bears at Yellowstone National Park</a>, tourists frequently make the news for behavior that's, frankly, very stupid.Well-behaved or not, all <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/overtourism-measures-limit-tourism-going-to-increase-venice-amsterdam-rome-2023-10">tourists can have negative impacts</a> on a destination, from too much traffic and congestion to rising rents and priced-out locals. And yet tourism can also bring economic and cultural benefits to a community — especially when it's done right.Paige McClanahan's new book, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-New-Tourist/Paige-McClanahan/9781668011775">"The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel,"</a> is all about how tourism impacts the world, from the good to the bad, and how people who travel can be the right kind of tourist.McClanahan, an American journalist based in France, talked to Business Insider about what it means to be a new tourist, her experience living in a small touristy village in the French Alps, and why people should stop saying they're a "traveler, not a tourist."The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.BI: Why do you think your book — and conversations about how to be a better traveler — are important right now?Paige McClanahan: In 2024, we're expected to see <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.unwto.org/news/international-tourism-reached-97-of-pre-pandemic-levels-in-the-first-quarter-of-2024">1.55 billion international tourist arrivals</a>, which is breaking the pre-pandemic record. Tourism is growing. It's growing faster than the global economy. It's a huge force.At the same time, so many of us who are traveling are looking at our travels through a different lens. All of us, of course, were forced to stay at home during COVID because of pandemic restrictions, and I think that forced so many of us to reexamine this aspect of our lives that we had taken for granted.I'm hoping this book is arriving in a moment where it can really resonate with people because we're traveling more than ever, and I think we're more ready than ever to consider the implications of our travels. And actually surveys are showing that people are more concerned about sustainability, they're more concerned about their impacts on communities. They're willing to spend more to have a positive impact on the place. So I hope the book is coming really at the right moment to speak to that audience.Was there a specific moment or an experience you had traveling that sparked the idea for the book?In 2018, I moved with my family to a little village in the French Alps.I had a chance to see firsthand how tourism really brought life into this village that would otherwise have become a ghost town, probably 50 years ago. It brought life, it brought energy, it brought culture, it brought all sorts of activities for my family, for me and my children, that we wouldn't have had otherwise in this beautiful corner of the French Alps.At the same time, as a resident of a tourist destination, I, for the first time in my life, really had to deal with things like having a heaving grocery store for maybe six or eight weeks a year, or having the parking lot where drop kids off at school overflowing sometimes, or sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the road that leads to my house when I'm just trying to get home with my groceries.Tourism is so huge and it has so many impacts that go so much deeper below the surface than most of us think about when we're traveling. It was really so moving to this village that that inspired me to start looking at travel and tourism in my journalism.Everywhere I look, there's complexities, there's good and bad and it's so important.Can you describe what you mean by "the new tourist"? What does a new tourist look like?In the last chapter of the book, I respond to an essay that was written by an exceptional writer named Agnes Kard and published in The New Yorker last summer called "The Case Against Travel." She described some tourists as "unchanged changers" — people who go to a place and they change the place, they inflict their presence on the place, and they're unchanged. They themselves remain closed in their hearts and minds to the experience and they come away unmoved. So, I took that as my starting point. That's what I see as an old tourist. Let's have a new tourist be somebody who's a changed changer, changed and enlightened.A new tourist is someone who takes the time to educate themselves about the impact that their presence will have on the place they're visiting and uses that knowledge to do their best to minimize any negative impacts of their presence on the place and maximize any positive impacts, whether it's economic, social, or cultural impacts.And they're changed themselves. They come with a view to having their mind changed. They come with a level of humility. They come with a strong desire to really see the humanity in the people they're visiting and the beauty in the place they're visiting and don't see themselves as superior to the people or the place.It's a mindset shift, really, but I think that it's a really powerful mindset shift that can lead to very constructive impacts both the tourist destination and on the traveler herself.How might travel look differently for someone who's embraced that mindset? How would their behaviors change?To start as an example, how you decide where you're going to go on a trip. When you're thinking about where you want to go, really take some time to reflect. Are you going to a place because it's on some top 10 list that you saw, and you feel like you're obligated to cross it off? Or are you going for a deeper sort of reason, like you want to connect with the culture? Maybe there's something meaningful there that you want to take the time to really learn about or get engaged with when you're there. I think it starts with self-reflection and making sure your motivations for where you want to travel are coming from a deeper place and not a superficial bucket list.At a really practical level, maybe taking fewer trips, but staying longer and really taking the time to engage in a place. Because if you, as an American, come to Europe for two weeks and hit five major cities with two to three days in each place, that's not going to give you the chance to engage in a meaningful way with anybody who lives there or with the culture and history of the place. But if you come to Paris for two weeks, you settle in, and you're seeing the same people at the corner shop every day, you're going back to the same bar at the corner, the same cafe at the corner, and you have a chance to build some relationships. You have a chance to really get to know this corner of Paris. You have a chance to explore beyond the top five things to do and explore other perspectives of the city, not just the cliché.Visiting fewer places is also better for the climate and it's better for the economies of the places you're visiting because every tourist destination wants people to come and stay longer. Be a high-quality visitor. And hire a local tour guide, whether it's for an hour or half a day or a full day, or multiple days. It gives you a chance to really have a personal, human, one-on-one interaction with someone who lives in that place, and you're directly supporting a local.That's one of the highest aims we can have as new tourists: to come away with a real human connection and not just photos for our Instagram feed.You write in the book that the stigma around the word "tourist" needs to change. Why?I think the problem with somebody saying, "I travel a lot, but I'm not a tourist when I travel, I'm a traveler" — It's like, OK, sure, you're a traveler, but I want you to remember that you're a tourist too. If we dissociate ourselves from this phenomenon of tourism that means we don't feel any ownership over the problems that tourism presents. If tourism is something that only other people do, then why should we be bothered about the problems that come with it?If we implicate ourselves in tourism, if we say, "Yes, I'm a tourist," then we might hopefully feel some ownership over the problems with tourism and we might be inspired to actually do something to change it.Because if tourism is this thing that only other people do, and everyone in the world, all of us who are lucky enough to travel, see tourism as something that other people do, nothing's ever going to get better.

An American mom who moved to the French Alps experienced the impacts of over-tourism firsthand. She says there's a better way to do it       

<ul class="summary-list"><li>More than a quarter of US metros are still recovering from COVID-era job losses, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported.</li><li>These are chiefly located in Rust Belt states, the South, and Northeast.</li></ul>As analysts clash over when the next recession will befall the US, large swaths of the country are still bogged down in the previous downturn.That's as labor markets continue to struggle in more than a quarter of US metros, having never reversed COVID-era job losses, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported this week. "More than four years have passed since the onset of the pandemic, which resulted in one of the sharpest and deepest economic downturns in U.S. history," the bank wrote in a <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2024/05/many-places-still-have-not-recovered-from-the-pandemic-recession/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blog post</a>, adding: "Many of the places that have not regained the jobs lost were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, leaving a deeper hole to dig out of."At first glance, it would appear that US labor has won back its strength: By 2022, national employment undid the whopping 15% plummet it suffered two years prior. And today, unemployment remains below 4%.However, this recovery has been all but even, with certain regions never regaining the jobs they once had. Often, these are metro areas with slow-growth economies, and the lack of workers has only dampened recovery momentum, the Fed said.Grouped regionally, that includes the Rust Belt area, as well as sectors of the South, the note said. Delayed recoveries can also be found clustered in California, and Hawaii: "In fact, employment is still more than 5 percent below pre-pandemic levels in New Orleans, and more than 3 percent below in Honolulu and San Francisco. Likewise, sizable job shortfalls remain in Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh," the Fed wrote.<div type="image" title="Map of metro areas recovering from the pandemic recession" height="1216" width="1472" msid="110037874" hostid="261"></div>But this trend is especially distinct in the Northeast, a region that's home to particularly impacted metros. New York City, which suffered as much as 19% job loss, has now just barely regained its employment levels. But the city's service sector continues to lag."Some places in upstate New York were hit by a 'triple whammy' of slow growth leading up to the pandemic that has now resumed, a deeper hole when the pandemic hit, and a declining labor force," the bank wrote.<h3>Timing the next recession </h3>Today, the eroding labor market is sparking renewed downturn fears. Conditions were most recently illustrated by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/labor-market-april-unemployment-rate-job-growth-wages-2024-5?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">April's jobs report</a>, when added positions came in well below expectations, and unemployment ticked up.In fact, one veteran analyst is convinced that a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-recession-outlook-job-market-cuts-labor-unemployment-hard-landing-2024-5">downturn is already here</a>, when measured by unemployment's three-month average. By this indicator, a recession started in October, confirmed further by accelerating job erosion, Danielle DiMartino Booth said."There's already been 22,000 job loss announcements in the month of May and it's still a fairly young month. So on a seasonal level, we're seeing a major pickup," the QI Research CEO told Bloomberg.Shrinking labor is also why analyst Frances Donald is betting on a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-downturn-outlook-us-economy-fed-pivot-interest-rate-cuts-2024-5">"proper downturn,"</a> which will prompt aggressive interest rate cuts."Just about everything in the labor market that explains where we are in the labor cycle is pointing to a deterioration," Donald said last Tuesday. "We're not saying it's a big crisis, we're calling for two quarters of negative GDP — Q3 and Q4, could be Q4 and Q1."But one expert is calling out a crisis. Wall Street veteran Gary Schilling told Business Insider to expect a coming job losses, as layoffs send the unemployment rate up between 5% to 7% this year.Meanwhile, he warns that any recession would hammer at overconfident investors, sending markets crashing up to 30%.

These 3 metro regions still haven't recovered from the pandemic recession

<ul class="summary-list"><li>When Jeffery Smith and his wife are both working remotely, their kids are often around at home. </li><li> Setting boundaries so his kids understand not to disturb them has been a challenge, Smith said. </li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Jeffery Smith, 46, the vice president of production operations at Basis Technologies, about how working remotely impacts his family life. The following has been edited for length and clarity.When my kids were very young, my wife and I both worked in the office full-time.Our routine was a tight, orchestrated dance. I drove the kids to preschool in the morning, and my wife would pick them up after work before starting dinner.After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, both of us began <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dream-job-in-office-work-full-time-flexibility-benefits-2024-3">working remotely</a>.Nowadays, our kids, who are nine and 12, usually walk home from school and are around in the house in the afternoons. It's an interesting dynamic because they don't always recognize that we're doing work.I get to spend more time around our kids, but I'm also worried about how the remote environment is shaping their view of work. I worry about how they'd handle a less flexible working environment when they're older.<h2 id="c05c5dce-82e5-4c04-9838-1ff9bc419575">Remote work has had a positive impact on my relationship with my kids</h2>I'm an engineering manager for an advertising company, and my wife works for a medical devices company.My company is remote-first. One of our mottos is "Flex with us, and we'll flex with you." It's pretty easy to step away during the workday as long as your manager's on board. I'm transparent about any time I take off during the day, letting colleagues know I'll get my tasks done later that night.It used to be more difficult to take my kids to the dentist and doctor, but now my wife and I can get to these appointments as long as we communicate our schedules.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dropbox-ceo-employees-value-remote-work-more-office-snacks-2024-4">flexibility of remote work</a> has positively impacted my relationship with my kids overall. I spend more time around them, even if we aren't directly interacting. If I go upstairs to grab a glass of water, I can see what the kids are up to and get the debrief. It's like the new water cooler, except with your family instead of coworkers.As a kid, I didn't know anything about my father's work. He disappeared at 8 a.m. and reappeared at 5. When I have to tell my kids I can't be disturbed because I have an important meeting, it opens up conversations about what I do for work. I like sharing this side of myself with them.<h2 id="59d48663-63f0-4ec3-b3ad-cf6727a3a1e5">It's harder to separate 'dad' Jeff and 'work' Jeff</h2>I actually miss my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/workers-say-employers-should-pay-for-commute-return-to-office-2024-4">commute</a>. I used to have a 45-minute journey home, which acted as buffer time for transitioning from "work" Jeff to "dad" Jeff.Now, after work, I have to transition straight into "dad" Jeff. If I'm angry about a meeting I've just had, it impacts my behavior with my family.Creating boundaries with our kids so that they understand when we're unavailable because of work has also been difficult.For example, my kids draw a lot. They always want to come into my office where I'm working and get paper from the printer when I'm on a call. My daughter will crawl in on all fours, not realizing my colleagues can see her in the background.Her attempt at discreetness shows she recognizes I'm working but doesn't grasp the seriousness of what I'm doing. She wouldn't crawl into a physical <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-youll-ever-need-to-know-about-board-meetings-2010-6">board meeting</a>.<h2 id="3a71405f-5f25-4291-8000-9f658002ea7b">My son once said he thought work was more important to us than he was</h2>Our nine-year-old son is too young to remember us going to the office.One day, he had an assembly at school. I couldn't be there, and my wife couldn't stay until the end because she had a meeting. When she explained this to my son, he said, "That's OK. I understand work is more important."It was a gut punch for us. Work isn't more important than him, but how could we explain that and still not go to the assembly?During my childhood, I never expected my father to make it to an assembly. He was the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/breadwinner-in-marriage-stay-at-home-dad-advice-2023-6">breadwinner</a>, and I naturally internalized that work was more important because he was the one putting food on the table.Our generation is the first to raise kids in a remote work environment en-masse. You just don't know how your children internalize the little things you say, and I had to think about the silent expectations my son was building around our availability.It's important for my kids to understand when we're in work or parent mode so they can understand where a particular response is coming from, but remote work blurs this line.We explained to him that our flexibility around working hours has limits. We also explained what we both do for work and that sometimes our work requires thinking, so even if he can't hear us talking to someone on a call, it's important that we aren't interrupted.I don't know if he understood all of it, but he did say he realized that work is only sometimes more important, depending on what we need to do.<h2 id="8a479001-2a67-4854-8dcc-81485443cfa1">I worry that watching me work remotely will make my kids less resilient</h2>I hope that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/return-to-office-hybrid-work-model-quit-jobs-2023-8">flexibility of remote work</a> gives my kids a sense of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-work-life-balance-advice-boss-lessons-job-2024-1">work-life balance</a>. I want to set healthy examples of integrating knowledge work with the rest of their lives. When I take time out of my day to take them to appointments and connect with them, I hope they recognize how important they are to me.But I also have fears about how <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/genz-millennials-summer-travel-debt-remote-work-blame-2024-6">remote work</a> will impact my children and their generation.I worry if they'll be able to transition into a less flexible environment. If they're teenagers flipping burgers to make extra cash, shift work doesn't have the same flexibility. You can't just leave for 30 minutes to run an errand.Most people in my circle are knowledge workers, so my kids don't really have a concept of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blue-collar-job-demand-growth-white-collar-layoffs-ai-2024-5">physical labor</a>, where there's often more structure to your routine. If their lives were to take them on a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-welder-blue-collar-work-earning-getting-fit-2024-7">trade skills path</a>, they might bring expectations around work with them that don't exist in that arena.We've taken steps to instill a strong <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/good-worth-ethic-working-class-2022-7">work ethic</a> in our kids. While they're home during the summer, we give them a checklist of things to do for some structure.I worry the environment they've grown up in will make them less adaptable and less resilient. I wonder how what we're displaying as parents will form their opinion of what work is.

My wife and I both work from home. I have a ton of fears about how remote work will impact my kids as they grow up.  

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gen Z pays more in housing costs than millennials did a decade ago, according to WaPo.</li><li>In an economy battered by inflation, higher costs have created economic uncertainty for Gen Z.</li></ul>During the Great Recession and much of the 2010s, millennials bore the brunt of one of the biggest economic upheavals in generations.A tough job market — where layoffs and high unemployment sidelined many budding careers — defined the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-money-financial-economic-trauma-recession-student-debt-inflation-2022-2">earliest stages of adulthood</a> for many millennials.More than a decade after the Great Recession and over four years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gen Z is now enduring its own economic challenges.Gen Z is spending more on housing and car insurance than their millennial counterparts did at the same age, and the younger generation is also holding more debt than millennials did, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/06/22/gen-z-millennials-debt-inflation/">according to The Washington Post</a>.The newspaper reported that Gen Z workers are more likely to have attended college and earn higher pay than millennials, but debt is weighing them down: About 1 in 7 Gen Zers have hit their credit card limits."Gen Z consumers have seen their finances significantly impacted by the pandemic and its aftermath, even more so than the challenges faced by millennials as a result of the global financial crisis," TransUnion US research head Michele Raneri told the Post. "Both of these cohorts have emerged from a difficult financial situation, but Gen Z is having a harder time affording this new cost of living."These findings are significant as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both fight for Gen Z votes ahead of the November election.<h2 id="b8f6cb46-cd3c-40e6-9e1c-a71f25217d10">Spending more and more</h2>Gen Z is spending 31% more on housing costs compared to what millennials paid 10 years ago, a figure which also factors in inflation, according to the Post.According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, car insurance costs increased more than twofold for Americans aged 16 to 24 between 2012 and 2022, and health insurance costs spiked 46% for this group during the same time span.Debt accounted for 16% of Gen Z income at the end of 2023, whereas debt among millennials only accounted for 12% 10 years ago, the Post reported.Gen Z has seen an economic recovery since the throes of the pandemic, buoyed by a 4% unemployment rate. But with higher costs taking out a large chunk of their salaries, many Gen Z workers feel like they're falling behind.<div type="image" title="Biden Trump" height="1500" width="3000" msid="111212871" hostid="261"></div><h2 id="bd62f494-789b-4efe-bbc8-8b21f1e72225">Biden v. Trump redux</h2>In 2020, young voters overwhelmingly supported Biden. That year, the president carried <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/">voters aged 18 to 29</a> by 24 points (59% to 35%) over Trump, according to Pew Research.During that cycle, the leading issues among young voters included the economy, student-loan forgiveness, reproductive rights, climate change, the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and racial inequality.This year, Gen Z has once again prioritized the economy as a defining issue of the election. And Biden — already struggling with younger voters over the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-gaza-ceasefire-morehouse-college-graduation-black-young-voters-2024-5">conflict in Gaza</a> — will have to craft a persuasive defense of his policies to ensure their support.In the latest <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/13/us/elections/times-siena-poll-registered-voter-crosstabs.html">New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College swing-state poll</a> conducted in late April and early May, 18% of registered voters aged 18 to 29 listed the economy as their top issue.This age group was the most pessimistic of any generation regarding the economy: 59% rated it as "poor," while 32% rated it as "only fair." About 7% of registered voters said the economy was "good."Only 1% of registered voters aged 18 to 29 rated the economy as "excellent."Trump is campaigning in cities like New York and Philadelphia to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-philadelphia-pennsylvania-rally-black-swing-voters-2024-6">make inroads</a> with younger and more infrequent voters to cut into the Democratic margins that are key for Biden.The struggles of Gen Z — whether it's high rents or elevated insurance costs — are poised to be a defining issue for the Biden and Trump campaigns during this critical summer stretch. And whoever finds a way to address Gen Z concerns and craft potential solutions effectively will likely emerge as the presidential victor in November.

Gen Z pays more for housing and has more debt than millennials did 10 years ago. That will likely impact the presidential race.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President Biden did a rare interview with the AP to discuss the state of his presidency.</li><li>There's "zero evidence" backing Republican claims his COVID relief package caused <keyword id="11894140" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="inflation" source="Orion">inflation</keyword>, Biden said.</li></ul>In a rare sit-down interview, President <keyword id="99719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="joe-biden" source="Orion">Joe Biden</keyword> told the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-ap-interview-transcript-fefb405f8383c6fdb4674eef9706fd65">Associated Press' White House Reporter Josh Boak</a> that the American public is "really, really down" as a result of the <keyword id="11893994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19" source="Orion">COVID-19</keyword> <keyword id="11896136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pandemic" source="Orion">pandemic</keyword>."Their need for mental health in America has skyrocketed because people have seen everything upset. Everything they counted on upset," Biden told Boak. "But most of it's a consequence of, of, of what's happening, what happened is a consequence of the, the COVID crisis."US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/12/07/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-on-youth-mental-health-crisis-further-exposed-by-covid-19-pandemic.html">issued an advisory</a> in 2021 on the youth mental health crisis, which was furthered by exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic."Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread," Murthy said in the advisory. "Even before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade." Biden said he agreed with Murthy and there is "overwhelming evidence" showing the "profound impact" the virus has had "across the board."Dismissing claims that the COVID-19 relief package started America's inflation problems, Biden said there is "zero evidence" of that.The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-rescue-plan/">American Rescue Plan</a>, a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill passed by Democrats in March 2021, didn't get a single Republican vote, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/542581-no-republicans-back-19t-covid-19-relief-bill/">The Hill reported</a>. When the <keyword id="11896084" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="white-house" source="Orion">White House</keyword> requested $10 billion more in relief in March, Republicans countered once again.Questions surrounding the original coronavirus relief package surround how much it costs, how quickly the money was spent and what the money was spent on.The cause of inflation is complicated. Although the American Rescue Plan isn't the sole cause, experts have said there were steps that could have been taken to not worsen the situation. In an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/causes-of-inflation">article by Business Insider's Kevin L. Matthews II</a> wrote, "Inflation, generally around 2% per year, is a normal part of our economic system." <a href="https://www.vox.com/23036340/biden-american-rescue-plan-inflation">Vox</a> also reported that this inflation was inevitable. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers predicted that the plan would cause a big inflation spike and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/14/biden-economy-afl-cio-00039580">told POLITICO</a> he remains "skeptical of the peak inflation story."Biden asked Boak to think about the graduating classes of the last three years. "No proms. No graduations. No, no, none of the things that celebrate who we are," he said. The COVID-19 pandemic uprooted life for people of all ages, taking students out of classrooms and putting them behind screens, causing businesses to close and people to lose their jobs. Many also suffered the loss of loved ones. For a country that has undergone "psychological trauma," Boak asked Biden what he can do as the president to address it."Be confident. Be confident. Because I am confident," Biden said. "We are better positioned than any country in the world to own the second quarter of the 21 st century. That's not hyperbole. That's a fact."

Biden says Americans are 'really, really down' from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The general public's attitude toward COVID is more relaxed than ever, even amid a summer surge.</li><li>Doctors say relaxed COVID precautions are to be expected and are not necessarily a bad thing.</li></ul>Gone are the days of scrubbing surfaces, sudden <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-shut-down-school-two-days-after-classes-started-2022-1">school closures</a>, and social distancing.Where a positive COVID-19 test once wrought panicked <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-mistakes-us-focus-on-contact-tracing-not-sequencing-2021-3">contract tracing </a>and guaranteed two weeks of isolation, these days, a diagnosis sparks relatively little worry for most people.Even amid a summer spike in cases — everyone from President <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-tests-positive-for-covid-19-2024-7#:~:text=President%20Joe%20Biden%20tested%20positive,Press%20Secretary%20Karine%20Jean%2DPierre.">Joe Biden</a> to the 2024 Summer Olympians seems to be battling the virus — the general public's attitude toward the pandemic that upended our lives more than four years ago is more relaxed than ever.The federal public health emergency for COVID expired in May 2023, officially <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-covid-19-global-health-emergency-is-over-who-says-2023-5">ending the crisis</a>, at least in name, more than three years after it was first declared. Since then, thanks to high infection and immunization rates, the country has continued climbing toward the herd immunity doctors so desperately sought in the early days of the pandemic, four medical professionals told Business Insider."The risk perception and anxiety around acute COVID infection has definitely lessened," said Dr. Anita Chopra, an internist at the University of Washington medical system. "People are interacting and mingling more like in pre-pandemic times."Healthcare professionals told BI that the public's more relaxed attitude toward COVID is ultimately a good thing. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-returning-to-normal-labor-market-vaccines-pandemic-2021-11">A return to normality</a> was the goal, after all.But COVID is still very present and very much a potential threat, especially for the immunocompromised and those unlucky enough to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-official-individuals-coronavirus-infection-unlucky-long-covid-2022-6">develop long COVID symptoms</a> — up to 10% of patients, according to some doctor estimates. Meanwhile, relaxed masking and declining vaccination rates, while to be expected at this point, could be linked to the rising case numbers doctors are seeing in clinics around the country, medical professionals told BI."We need to acknowledge that we're in a very different place now than we were at the height of the pandemic," said Dr. Eric Chow, chief of communicable disease epidemiology and immunizations at Public Health Seattle and King County. "But so long as COVID-19 continues to circulate, there are health implications to getting infected."<h2 id="8540c815-ae27-4465-8106-21a572b3f035">Evolving behaviors and beliefs</h2>Many of the early-day pandemic precautions have all but disappeared in 2024. Chief among them, according to doctors, are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mask-mandates-lifted-states-reasonable-experts-2022-2">masking</a>, isolations, and vaccinations.Soon after the pandemic emerged, medical professionals emphasized masking as a key way to slow the spread of the virus.The face coverings quickly became a contentious cultural topic and among the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-decision-to-oppose-masks-bizarre-self-sabotaging-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-6">most politicized aspects</a> of COVID. But these days, even many who once championed masks have ditched the deterrent entirely. An August 2023 Yahoo News/YouGov <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/only-12-percent-of-americans-wear-mask-in-public-194019882.html">poll</a> of 1,665 US adults found that 12% of respondents said they were masking — down from 60% in January 2022. And doctors told BI that they've seen a steady decrease in masking since then."I think the public has appropriately adjusted their attitudes to what they hear in the news and what they see around them," said Dr. Edward Jones-Lopez, infectious disease specialist with Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California.More worrying to medical professionals is the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-vaccine-us-vaccination-sites-joe-biden-2021-4">decline in vaccinations.</a>While early immunization rates helped bolster immunity, vaccination uptake has been on the decline in recent years, and fewer and fewer people are keeping up to date with their booster shots, a preventive step the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html#:~:text=Everyone%20aged%205%20years%20and,of%20updated%20COVID%2D19%20vaccine.">CDC recommends</a> in its COVID guidelines.Most medical professionals also recommend a yearly COVID-19 vaccine. There's a new shot coming out in September. But Chow, who previously worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the height of the pandemic, said most people aren't aware of the recommended vaccine schedule — a challenge that is indicative of a larger problem doctors are trying to navigate in this new COVID age."People are much more fatigued by COVID messaging," he said. "We're trying to right-size the appropriate message to make sure people continue to acknowledge the health impacts of COVID."<h2 id="3c719499-920d-46e7-b315-35ec4a1cdc50">The long COVID scare</h2>Relaxed attitudes are not necessarily a bad thing, according to doctors."I think it's to be expected as we learn more about the virus over these four years and as we've developed these other COVID countermeasures to address infection," said Dr. Jessica Bender, a primary care doctor at Harbor View Medical in Seattle and the co-director at the university's long COVID clinic.On the one hand, people are generally not getting as sick as they once did when ill with COVID, medical professionals told BI. On the other hand, this summer seems to have brought yet another COVID surge with a spike in cases.People don't typically equate respiratory illnesses with the warmer months, but an increase in summer socializing combined with the general decrease in preventive measures is likely fueling the uptick, Bender said.For an unlucky subset of patients, a COVID diagnosis — even in this new relaxed era — could mean <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/long-covid-survivor-its-wrecked-my-life-2022-1">long-term challenges.</a>Doctors define long COVID as any infection related to the virus that is present for at least three months, said Chopra, who treats patients at the UW long COVID clinic. The often <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/healthcare-workers-nurses-long-covid-impact-careers-labor-shortage-2022-5">debilitating</a> condition is indiscriminate in who it affects. Up to 10% of all people who get COVID are susceptible, according to Chopra, and patients of all ages, genders, races, and vaccination statuses can present with long COVID.<div type="image" title="A young girl gets a COVID vaccine" height="2661" width="4000" msid="112065018" hostid="261" sizebytes="341938"></div>Even as the country relaxes its COVID response, doctors said they are still seeing many new patients presenting with long COVID each day. The condition has at least <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/common-long-covid-symptoms-hair-loss-vertigo-low-libido-2022-7">200 known signs and symptoms</a> that range from shortness of breath to chronic fatigue and brain fog.Doctors told BI they'd treated several patients who have been forced to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/long-covid-symptoms-disability-insurance-unemployment-quit-job-2022-11">stop working</a> or rendered unable to participate in any physical activity because of a long COVID diagnosis. A 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9721155/">study</a> published in the National Library of Medicine explored a possible link between long COVID and the risk of suicide because of the condition's tendency to inflict depression, anxiety, posttraumatic symptoms, sleep disturbances, fatigue, and cognitive deficits.Medical professionals are doing their best to understand long COVID, but admit that there's still much to learn. According to the CDC, about 17 million people <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm">reported</a> having long-term COVID-19 in March 2024.For these people, the pandemic is still very real."When I treat people with long COVID, they are always masked," Chopra said.<h2 id="c71342ed-0973-4d09-978b-dae3bd11fc3e">The future of COVID</h2>As doctors look to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/red-cross-says-world-is-dangerously-unprepared-for-next-pandemic-2023-1">future</a> of COVID, little is for sure."We always say the one thing that is predictable about COVID is its unpredictability," Chow said.But medical professionals told BI they are optimistic that even as the virus continues to evolve, the next few years will continue to look like the past year, with small seasonal surges and hopefully less intense illness.While lax attitudes may be a welcome sign of a cautious new normal, doctors said it's important to remember the lessons we've collectively learned from COVID. The precautions that proved useful against the virus protect people from other illnesses, too.Just because the world has adapted to COVID-19, medical professionals say, doesn't mean we should drop the hygiene, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-circulation-coronavirus-how-to-judge-ventilation-systems-2020-8">ventilation</a>, and masking lessons learned along the way."We've learned so much about how we can protect ourselves," Chow said. "It's hard to see people leave some of those precautions behind."Doctors recommend people gauge their individual risk, as well as the risk of those close to them when considering which precautions to take in this new COVID age. Most medical professionals still recommend masking, testing, and visiting a doctor after testing positive."We're aiming to get to a state where COVID is not a threat to our healthcare system," Bender said. "And not a threat to our lives and livelihoods.

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