evidence: December’s jobs report just came in — and it’s brutal for women. A disappointing jobs report, just released by the same department, found that 140,000 jobs were cut in December. Every single one of those jobs were held by women. [...] That disparity — fueled by existing wage inequality, inequality in the home, and continued child care and school shutdowns due to COVID-19 which is wrecking the United States as more people get sick and more people die — was worsened in December, with the 140,000 job losses by women. But the real facts are even worse than what the statistics say. Digging a little deeper, it’s actually clear that women lost more work than 140,000 jobs — 156,000 job losses were actually recorded in December — but that 16,000 jobs were gained by men. [...] There are a number of reasons women most disproportionately lost their jobs, and in particular, women of color. First, the aforementioned wage gap makes it all but certain that if a woman works in a two-income household with a man, her husband or partner makes more than her — and in a situation where there’s a prolonged lack of child care or schooling, the person who makes less is more likely to quit their jobs and take on full-time caregiving. It’s a rational, economic choice, one that is beset by decades of income inequality — and one that will set back income inequality even further.