Work

Austerity and women’s employment trajectories in Spain and the UK: A comparison of two flexible labour markets

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Using a mixed methods approach this article investigates the impact of the financial crisis and austerity on women’s employment and life chances in Spain and the UK through tracking women’s changing labour market transitions and exploring women’s responses to disrupted employment paths. Women’s experiences were found to be strongly influenced by the different employment and social models and the specific austerity policies. In Spain women faced increases in both labour market flexibility and segmentation, involving more entrapment in unemployment and temporary jobs and declining protection within permanent contracts. In the UK women retained more access to employment but faced destabilisation of public sector employment and a strong budget squeeze from wage and benefit cuts. They were less able than women in Spain to draw on both family support and unemployment benefits to reorient their careers, but in both countries women were resisting employment changes and reaffirming their commitment to employment.

Source: Economic and Industrial Democracy

DOI: 10.1177/0143831x18760988

Authors: Martí López-Andreu, Jill Rubery

Institutions: University of Leicester, University of Manchester

Language: English

Topic: Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities, Gender equality, No poverty

Open Access status: green

Funder: Seventh Framework Programme