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Women are working at near-record levels, and their spending is helping to prop up the US economy, but their economic power could be threatened by the future of artificial intelligence.
An August study by the International Labour Organization found that in high-income countries, 7.8% of jobs held by women have the potential to be automated — compared to just 2.9% of men's jobs. A Pew Research analysis from July estimated that 21% of US women were employed in jobs that are the most exposed to AI — meaning there's a higher likelihood that women's work tasks could be replaced or aided by AI. Seventeen percent of men were employed in highly exposed professions, per Pew. Other studies have found a similar gender disparity.
From an economic perspective, more women working means more entrepreneurship, fewer labor shortages, and more disposable income to spread around businesses. In the years ahead, when a declining US population could pose a serious threat to the economy, barriers that prevent women from entering the workforce and technology that eliminates their jobs could be all the more detrimental.
To be sure, the AI future has yet to be written. While some workers could face more competition, earn lower wages, or even see AI replace their jobs, these technologies could help other workers become more productive, find employment in new industries, and even have a four-day workweek.
If AI does replace some women's jobs, retraining them for high-demand roles can hopefully help many of them find work, Michael Chui, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, previously told Insider.
"There was a time when a vast majority of the workers in the United States were involved in agriculture," he said. "And then years later, far more people were working in factories for instance. But we didn't end up with 50% unemployment. We have historically been able to do this."
The threat of AI is just the latest obstacle women are facing in the labor force.
In the US, sky-high childcare costs have forced some women to quit their jobs and look after their kids. Additionally, the September expiration of billions of dollars in federal childcare funds could lead childcare providers to raise prices even further, compounding the affordability problem.
"There'll be a cap on how much we can improve female labor-force participation and how many women who want to work will be able to do," Julia Pollak, the chief economist of ZipRecruiter, previously told Insider.
In recent years, remote work has made it easier for many women to balance work and childcare responsibilities, Aaron Terrazas, Glassdoor's chief economist, previously told Insider.
"By our estimates, the expansion of remote work allowed about one million women in their 30s and 40s to remain in the workforce at an age when prior generations may have stopped working for family and child-care responsibilities," he said.
But as more US companies call workers back to the office, some of this progress could be reversed.
However, even if AI does pose an additional threat in the years ahead, it won't change things overnight, giving some women time to prepare.
