Women and recession revisited

an article by Jill Rubery and Anthony Rafferty (University of Manchester, UK) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 27 Number 3 (June 2013)

Abstract

In earlier work (Rubery, 1988), the extent to which women might act as a flexible reserve over the business cycle was argued to depend on three main factors:

• the pattern of gender segregation and its relationship to employment change;
• women’s commitment to labour market participation; and
• state policy and support for women’s employment.

This article revisits these factors in the context of the 2008/9 recession and the follow-on austerity policy to explore how gender segregation is associated with employment change by gender, how far reduced demand is influencing women’s labour market participation, and the implications of changes in public policy associated with austerity and reduced labour demand for women’s future employment position.

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