Raül Romeva i Rueda

Explanatory statement: Gender impact of the economic and financial crisis (Part 2 of 3)

Segregated labour market

This current crisis is unlike previous recessions: the economic slowdown is likely to affect women more than men. In contrast to past periods of economic downturn, women now account for a much greater proportion on the labour market. Women’s integration into the workplace not only means a greater direct impact of the crisis on women themselves, but also on households, where income will be significantly affected by female job losses. And with employment patterns characterised by gender segregated labour markets, gender gaps in pay, higher levels of part-time and precarious work and higher concentration in the so called informal sector with lower earnings and less social protection, women are not in an advantageous position to weather the crisis.

There is not doubt that gender equality should be a key principle in any policy response, as the effects of the economic and financial crisis go beyond the scope of women in the world of work and have an impact on the overall stability of society, considering the various roles that women play. In times of economic upheaval, women often experience the negative consequences more rapidly and are slower to enjoy the benefits of recovery. And already before the crisis, the majority of working women were in the informal economy with lower earnings and less social protection.

Women’s concentration in public sector services has, in the past, helped protect them from the initial impact of recessionary conditions. However, as employees of the public sector and users of services, for example care services, women are particularly sensitive to budget cuts as the impact of falling tax receipt takes hold. State income and expenditure are gendered; while men tend to be the main contributors to state revenue in terms of taxation due to their higher earning, women tend to be the prime beneficiaries of State expenditure through the provision of services that are also gendered: childcare, dependent persons care, housing, education and health. Reductions therefore in public expenditure are far more likely to impact directly women.

Gender impact analysis prior to public spending cuts is crucial to understanding the gender impact of such policies both in the short and the long term. Activation aiming to lower benefits payments by making employment an attractive option and active inclusion policies that seek to engage women and men in the labour-market are also gendered as these depend on the provision of subsidised services such as childcare/dependent persons’ care.

Reductions in public expenditure will also undoubtedly result in the transfer of services such as care back to women, preventing them further from fully participating in all aspects of life. Similarly the impact of expenditure cuts to support services in socio-economically disadvantaged communities will result in a greater reliance on women both within families and in the community.

Impacts on labour and employment

The unemployment rate for males rose from 7.5 to 9.9% in the Euro Area and from 7.2% to 9.7% in the EU 27 between November 2008 and November 2009. The female unemployment rate increased from 8.6% to 10.0% in the euro area and from 7.8% to 9.2% in the EU27. The monthly EU employment report for February 2009 lines out that “the unemployment rate for women has been higher than that of men, but the gap has been narrowing”. Compared with a year ago, all Member States recorded an increase in their unemployment rate in 2010. The more vulnerable groups will be most affected as the employment situation deteriorates and as generally known these are women.

Women are more likely to have a disadvantaged position on the labour market, e.g. due to higher incidence of precarious contracts, on voluntary part-time and a persistent unfavourable pay gap (17.4% on average in the EU in 2007 with figures up to 30.3% in Estonia) with repercussions on their lifetime earnings, social security protection and pensions, resulting in higher ‘at-risk of poverty rates’, especially once in retirement. In 2007, the at-risk of poverty rate was higher for women (17 %) than men (15 %) and this gap was especially high for older persons (22 % for women compared to 17% for men) and single parents (34 %).

However, the unemployment rate measure does not necessarily capture the full impact of the changing economic conditions on both women and men. Indeed national data confirm that falling employment rates for women are not necessarily accompanied by similar rises in unemployment rates. Women are often part-time unemployed and are not classified as unemployed but as (part-time) employed and thus women’s unemployment can be regarded as underestimated in relation to men’s. In order to measure women’s unemployment in the same way as men’s, greater attention should be paid to part-time unemployment and it should be treated and published the same comprehensive way as full-time unemployment. The trends in employment and the data they are bases on can be questioned. In the EU, it has been decided that individually-based statistics household be disaggregated by sex. However, this is only the first step in the direction of data which can catch the differences between women and men.

Font foto: eleconomista.es