These factors affect men and women equally, so they don’t explain why employment is now recovering somewhat more strongly for women. As with educational differences, the answer might be industry mix. Looking at job loss among older workers, the industries in which older women are the most concentrated (education and health) fared better than the industries in which men are the most concentrated (professional and business services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade). But less visible factors could also play a role. Older men on average are less healthy than women, and their comorbidities could have given them higher vulnerability to COVID-19. This may have reduced their willingness to engage in the workforce during the pandemic.