Women and unemployment.

Abstract

Studying womens unemployment is problematic because even when women are unemployed they continue to perform many household duties that while unpaid are essential to the running of family life and to the economy as a whole. Women also have often held part-time or seasonal work. Many female occupations offered a chance for steady work during the Depression and some protection from the steady growth of unemployment. Many studies of unemployment during the Depression excluded women altogether. The supremacy of the male breadwinner was translated into employment policies dictating that married men with families should be the last to be let go and the first to be rehired. Women who supported themselves and their children were simply not recognized. For men unemployment meant the lossof activity while for their spouses it meant an increase in chores and responsibility. The unemployment census of 1930 shows that at least 1/10 of all women were heads of households with dependents. Unemployed single professional women were more likely to give aid than to receive it. 2 Depression reports clarify the importance of paid work to women. By 1940 26% of women of working age were in the paid labor force; by 1980 this figure was over 55%. A 1986 study shows that almost 51% of women with children under 3 years of age were employed. Women currently constitute a large percentage of the working poor with 44% of the net increase in employment from 1979 to 1985 made up of jobs paying less than $7400 a year. In 1986 over 3 million women were listed as unemployed. One study of unemployment showed that while men were more likely to drink more and have more stomach disorders women were more likely to have insomnia fatigue and headaches. Female-related problems such as menstrual disords were omitted from the list. Job loss is subjectively experienced as seriously for women as for men. Compared to men women reported facing age discrimination in job hunting at a much younger age. A spell of unemployment in a womans life is likely to be an occasion to become more aware of the integration of her family and work roles.