More than a quarter of women unemployed in the UK have been out of work for more than a year, according to analysis of official statistics by think tank IPPR – and this isn’t including maternity leavers.
Latest figures reveal that more than 260,000 women have been unemployed for more than 12 months. While one would assume that it is just down to the recession, when looking at the fact that total unemployment numbers have slightly fallen over the last year to 2.45 million, the number of unemployed women has risen to 1.026 million.
Women’s position in the labour market is becoming increasingly insecure, with more than 40 per cent of redundancies in the last quarter being among women – an increase of more than 30 per cent.
If you are employed now, it is essential that you start looking at a second income stream – multiple income streams are a must today, now more than ever.
The analysis also shows that cuts to public sector jobs are disproportionately affecting women. During the past year, employment in the private sector has increased by 520,000 but employment in the public sector is down by 143,000. Jobs in public administration, health and education (public sector jobs) is the only broad sector of the economy where more women than men are employed, so when the government makes cuts and job losses follow, it affects women more.
Daila Ben-Galim, IPPR Associate Director, said: “During the recession, unemployment among men increased much more than among women. But our analysis of the latest figures show that this experience is now being reversed, in large part because of the government’s public spending cuts.
“Behind the headline unemployment figures, more people are experiencing long spells out of work and long-term unemployment is rising steeply. Women are increasingly joining the ranks of the long–term unemployed and the prospects for female employment are likely to remain gloomy for some time to come.”
Most families were affected in some waynor another by the last budget cuts, which has had a knock-on effect on what families can and can’t afford – childcare being one of them.
“Cuts to childcare tax credits mean that for some women, work no longer pays and they are better off staying at home, ” says Daila.
“Being out of work for more than a year can have a scarring affect, making it harder to get a job, as well as having a negative impact on one’s health and wellbeing. The government should ensure that everyone who has been out of work for a year should be guaranteed a minimum wage job,†says Ben-Galim.
Research evidence shows that being unemployed for one year or more can reduce the chances of finding work, as well as having a negative impact on the health and wellbeing ofmthe person concerned.
The UK employment rate lags behind other European countries, where women are better represented in the labour market, and this is partly due to better childcare provision in those countries.
Norway, for example, has the highest female employment rate in Europe (73.3 per cent), with Denmark (71.1 per cent) and Sweden (70.3 per cent), while the UK is significantly lower (64.6 per cent).
