Under-employment of Women

Around 12% of well qualified, work experienced women in employment in the South East may be working in jobs which under-utilise their skills - this is equivalent to 62,000 women with 'A' levels/NVQ level 3 or above being under-employed.

Life-cycle and personal circumstances

Lone mothers

Under-employment was felt to be commonly associated with lone parenthood by many women's groups. It was considered to affect well qualified, work experienced women as much as those with lower skills. Examples were given of well-qualified lone mothers working in jobs that under-utilised their skills because of the need to accommodate childcare requirements.

Working mothers with partners

Under-employment amongst working mothers was identified as commonplace regardless of whether the women had taken a career break.

Recruitment consultants commented that women with family responsibilities were often regarded as being less able to accommodate their employer's needs for long hours when required and were judged to be less focussed on their work because of family distractions.

No career break

Women who had worked full-time throughout their children's upbringing were still thought likely to experience under-employment as they still accepted primary responsibility for combining career and family responsibilities. They were therefore less likely to apply for promotion and the increased responsibility on top of an already stressed dual role.

After career break

Women frequently found that they were unable to re-enter the labour market at their previous level.

A survey by the Women Returners Network reported that 41% of highly qualified returners, mostly graduates, who had attended a 'Professional Up-dating for Women' course returned to employment at a lower grade than that they had previously held.

Recruitment agencies reported that it was difficult to place women in the labour market following a career break as employers are wary that their skills might have become redundant.

Women who accept a lower grade job in order to 'prove' themselves in the labour market again then find it difficult to get back to their previous level.

Women over 40

Under-employment amongst well-qualified, more mature women, who generally exhibit high employment rates (80%), was considered particularly likely:

Women often re-enter the labour market around the age of 40 and take lower grade jobs than before.

Women aged 40+ may have experienced age discrimination on re-entry. Age discrimination against both men and women is decreasing in those areas where there is low unemployment.

Women returning after a considerable gap often lack self-confidence and are less able to market themselves effectively or to recognise the skills they may have gained while out of paid employment. Recruitment agencies in particular considered that this hindered women's progress within the labour market.

Employment sectors

Under-employment was thought to be particularly associated with the following sectors:

• sectors such as IT where very rapid changes take place and skills become out-of-date
• male-dominated careers such as engineering and areas of technical research where flexible working/family friendly policies are less developed
• jobs with a high demand for travelling including many professional jobs in the service sector, consultancy and sales
• sectors where frequent job changes are needed for progression, such as marketing or local government
• jobs with inflexible shift patterns.

The problem was felt to be particularly acute in small and medium sized companies where a high proportion of the workforce is employed. The newly published guide 'Balanced Lifestyles and Flexible Working' from Fair Play Southeast is specifically focussed on these organisations and should be of help in this area.

Interestingly Nursing was identified as an example of employment with inflexible shift patterns. There has been considerable support from the NHS centrally for flexible working initiatives to encourage nurses back into the profession. The comments would indicate either that these have not been put into practice throughout the Region or that communication of the availability of flexible working practices has not been effective.

Location of employment

Women's groups reported that women with family commitments often chose to work locally in order to help balance work and family commitments and avoid paying for childcare during travelling time. This would restrict the range of jobs available and might be particularly acute in the Southeast where commuting patterns focus on London.

Cultural barriers

There are many initiatives to reduce the barriers which women face - the 'glass ceiling' is being broken but has not yet disappeared, especially for women faced with juggling work and care responsibilities.

The debate about families and work frequently polarises into two 'camps'. The reality is that many women, and men, would welcome the opportunity to have the flexibility to adjust the balance of their work and care responsibilities as appropriate without prejudicing the whole of their future career.

This publication is available (£7.00 inc p & p) from:

Fair Play Southeast, Beeson House, 26 Lintot Square, Southwater, West Sussex, RH13 9LA