close
Judy is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Evercore Wealth Management in San Francisco, managing investment portfolios for families, endowments and foundations. She is a member of the firm’s External Manager Selection Committee, which is responsible for the selection, due diligence and monitoring of all third-party investment managers.
Prior to joining Evercore, Judy was a vice president at U.S. Trust, and a senior portfolio manager at Charter Financial Group, Inc. in Washington, D.C.
She received a B.A. in Economics from the University of California – Berkeley, an M.B.A. from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. She is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of San Francisco, and also serves on the Board of Trustees of Santa Catalina School.
It’s been almost 25 years since a Japanese economist, Kathy Matsui, put forward the concept of “womenomics” as an antidote to sluggish economic growth. The concept, rooted in a belief in gender equality, was that full female participation in the workforce would generate fresh perspectives, enhance innovation, and boost overall productivity. Few – or at least considerably fewer – people would argue with that hypothesis today. But in that time, female participation in the U.S. workforce hasn’t really budged.
The gains between 1950 and the late 1990s were remarkable with a 260% rise in women joining the U.S. workforce, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And the economic gains of that period – a fivefold increase in U.S. real GDP – paved the way for Matsui’s theory. But around 1999, when she published her argument (and the Japanese workforce still looked a lot like the U.S. one in the 1950s), U.S. progress in women’s labor force participation stalled. Today, 57.3% of working-age women participate in the U.S. labor force, compared with 68.1% of men.1 The World Bank today ranks the United States about halfway down its list of high-income countries in terms of female labor force participation – still above Japan but well behind that of many other large economies.
Changing demographics, as described in Is Demography Destiny? by Brian Pollak and Where Are the Kids? Demographics in the United States by John Apruzzese, could be seen as bolstering the case for womenomics. If labor, especially young labor, is in short supply in developed economies, encouraging more women to join the workforce would make sense. However, as Brian Pollak observes in his article, an unintended consequence of female empowerment in the workforce has been a decline in fertility rates; families around the world struggle with work-life balance and traditional social mores.
Near term, embracing womenomics in the United States could be instrumental to enhancing economic growth. The broad range of remote work or hybrid options available today may encourage women to seek and retain employment. And higher wages, especially for the lowest paid workers, are making it more economically beneficial to stay in the workforce.
Judy Moses is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Evercore Wealth Management. She can be contacted at moses@evercore.com.
1 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The 48th volume of Independent Thinking® by Evercore Wealth Management explores the complexities facing families and investors in a rapidly changing world.
The edition emphasizes the importance of adaptability and proactive planning in the face of unpredictable economic, demographic, and societal shifts. Key articles address the challenges of multigenerational wealth transfer, the profound impact of demographic trends, and the necessity for robust estate and investment strategies.
Communication and collaboration among family members and advisors are essential for preserving assets and values across generations. The publication also examines the implications of recent global events, such as the banking crisis and inflation, for private capital investors and high-net-worth individuals.
Investment and Wealth Management services are provided by Evercore Wealth Management, LLC an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Trust and custody services are provided by Evercore Trust Company, N.A. a national trust bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Client retention rate is based on data from 06/30/24 – 06/30/25. Assets under management are as of 06/30/25
