Showing papers on "Women's work published in 2021"

Women’s work: the impact of the COVID crisis on Australian women

Abstract: The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 recession was Australia's deepest since the Great Depression. This report argues that, while all Australians felt some effects, the economic pain was not shared equally. This recession hit young people, those in insecure work, and women particularly hard. Indeed, women are recovering from a 'triple-whammy' - they were more likely to lose their jobs, more likely to do a lot more unpaid work, and less likely to get government support. Women's employment improved as the economy re-opened, but many groups have not caught up, and on current forecasts, unemployment will remain too high for too long. Mothers in couples, and single parents (80 per cent of whom are women), were more likely to leave the labour force than other groups. Women of childbearing age also gave up study in record numbers. For single parents, paid hours remain substantially below pre-pandemic levels.

The dynamics of family formation and women's work: What facilitates and hinders female employment in the Middle East and North Africa?

Abstract: Despite increases in educational attainment, women’s employment rates remain very low in the Middle East and North Africa. Difficulties reconciling work and family formation have been identified as an important but under-researched factor in low female employment rates. This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between family formation and women’s employment. The paper studies Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, leveraging unique retrospective data on work, marriage, childbearing, and child rearing. The data allow us to estimate discrete time hazard models for the duration of different labor market statuses. This paper examines three sets of outcomes: (1) duration in employment, (2) duration in non-employment, and (3) duration in different labor market states and specific types of work. We explore the different roles of getting married, being married, expecting children, having children, or having young children as constraints to employment. Findings show that anticipating marriage and getting married are strongly associated with women’s employment outcomes. Non-employment is an absorbing state, particularly after marriage.

Women’s work is never done: Lifting the gendered burden of firewood collection and household energy use in Kenya

Abstract: In rural Kenya, firewood is used for cooking and heating by 9 out of every 10 households due to its affordability, availability and convenience. This study was carried out using social and natural science methods to understand women’s energy burdens and the reasons for the persistent use of firewood. Firewood remains the main source of energy even when multiple fuels are used (“fuel stacking”). Collecting firewood from forests limits women’s earning potential and has a negative impact on their well-being although it is a source of income for some as they sell part of what they gather. In these modern times no one would expect that the prospect of freezing to death due to lack of firewood in the tropical highlands worries aging women, but it does. Women’s burden of collecting firewood could be lifted by bringing firewood closer through use of residues from trees on farms and burning it in more efficient cookstoves although there may be gender-specific barriers for some women. Income from sale of two timber trees was adequate to meet the cost of labour for pruning trees on-farm and carrying home a year’s supply of firewood for families without members who can do the work. This information is useful towards improving rural women’s wellbeing and the sustainability of cooking energy. Knowledge gaps still exist in nature, causes and impacts of energy burdens and solutions that work for the people.

A Historical View of Studies of Women’s Work

Abstract: This paper places observational studies of women’s work in historical perspective. We present some of the very early studies (carried out in the period from 1900 to 1930), as well as several examples of fieldwork-based studies of women’s work, undertaken from different perspectives and in varied locations between the 1960s and the mid 1990s. We outline and discuss several areas of thought which have influenced studies of women’s work - the automation debate; the focus on the skills women need in their work; labour market segregation; women’s health; and technology and the redesign of work – and the research methods they used. Our main motivation in this paper is threefold: to demonstrate how fieldwork based studies which have focussed on women’s work have attempted to locate women’s work in a larger context that addresses its visibility and value; to provide a thematic historiography of studies of women’s work, thereby also demonstrating the value of an historical perspective, and a means through which to link it to contemporary themes; and to increase awareness of varied methodological perspectives on how to study work.

Women's invisible work in disaster contexts: gender norms in speech on women's work after a forest fire in Sweden.

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate what women do in disaster situations and how both men and women perceive and discuss the work of women. These patterns were evidenced in the stories that were told following the largest forest fire in the modern history of Sweden in July 2014. The study is based on 31 retrospective interviews with volunteers involved in combating the forest fire and concentrates on stories about the supportive work of women during this disaster. The results indicate that women were praised when they followed traditional norms but were denigrated when they performed what were viewed as male-coded tasks. The stories reveal norms concerning what a woman is and is not by focusing on women's age and clothing and by directly and indirectly questioning their abilities and authority. The norms are also rendered visible by the positive attention that women receive while describing doing what is expected of them.

Women's Work-Life Balance in Hospitality: Examining Its Impact on Organizational Commitment.

Abstract: Women account for a large proportion of the hotel industry Work-life conflict has become one of the main obstacles to the organizational commitment of women Thus, this study investigates the relationship for women between work-life balance, as an independent variable, and organizational commitment, as a dependent variable Specifically, we examine women's work-life balance in the hospitality industry and compare women's organizational commitment under different levels of work-life balance Then, we assess whether women's work-life balance and organizational commitment are associated with their sociodemographic characteristics (ie, age, education, working years, and position level) Data were collected from 525 women employees in China Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify the relationship between work-life balance and organizational commitment The results showed that work-life balance had a significant effect on organizational commitment There was also a significant relationship between women's sociodemographic characteristics, work-life balance, and organizational commitment

Troubling Trade-offs Between Women's Work and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence From 19 Developing Countries.

Abstract: The empirical link between women’s employment status and their experience of different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) is not very apparent. Using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data...

‘Knit “n” natter’: a feminist methodological assessment of using creative ‘women’s work’ in focus groups:

Abstract: This article outlines the methodological innovations generated in a study of knitting and femininity in Britain. The study utilised ‘knit “n” natter’ focus groups during which female participants were encouraged to knit and talk. The research design encompassed a traditionally undervalued form of domestic ‘women’s work’ to recognise the creative skills of female practitioners. ‘Knit “n” natter’ is a fruitful feminist research method in relation to its capitalisation on female participants’ creativity, its disruption of expertise and its feminisation of academic space. The method challenges patriarchal conventions of knowledge production and gendered power relations in research, but it also reproduces problematic constructions of gender, which are acknowledged. The study contributes to a growing body of work on creative participatory methods and finds that the ‘knit “n” natter’ format has utility beyond investigations of crafting and may be used productively in other contexts where in-depth research with women is desirable.

The Social and Solidarity Economy: An Opportunity for Young Women’s Work Transitions:

Abstract: This article analyses to what extent the social and solidarity economy (SSE), the aim of which is to prioritize people’s needs and well-being, can offer young people education-to-work transitions c...

The marketisation of life: entangling social reproduction theory and regimes of patriarchy through women’s work in post-Soviet Uzbekistan

Abstract: Despite the important International Political Economy (IPE) scholarship on the impact of neoliberal marketisation on women in the Global South, the linkages with reproductive and informal work are often neglected as well as its interaction with multi-level varieties of patriarchy. Developing a theoretical framework merging social reproduction theory (Bhattacharya, 2017; Mezzadri, 2020) and varieties of gender regimes (Brown, 1981; Walby,1990;2020; Kocabicak, 2020), this paper examines how women navigate market and non-market pressures during recent processes of Uzbek agrarian marketisation. By applying the concept of domestic and public patriarchy to analyse the gendered practices of food production and reproduction in Uzbekistan, it unpacks the household-led and state-led forms of dispossession and exploitation of women’s work in the everyday life (LeBaron, 2010; Kuntz, 2010) and investigates why women’s position has not improved (Kandiyoti 1998; 2003; Trevisani, 2008) as a result of marketisation. The paper contributes to feminist IPE in two ways. By bringing together two strands of gender theories, it reflects on the institutional and cultural connotation and economic ‘valuation’ of women’s work. Along these lines, it examines the weaknesses of the policy solutions proposed by the neoliberal development governance in the Global South.

The First World War in a ‘women’s town’: Dundee 1914–1922

Abstract: This article re-examines long-standing arguments about the impact of the First World War on women’s lives by using the unusual, distinctive case of Dundee. By the late nineteenth-century Dundee had...

“Women's work”: welfare state spending and the gendered and classed dimensions of unpaid care

Abstract: This study is the first to explicitly assess the connections between welfare state spending and the gendered and classed dimensions of unpaid care work across 29 European nations. Our research uses...

Traditional market and women’s work in the beringharjo market, of yogyakarta

Abstract: Traditional market is often one of the locations for economic turnover in an area. Various goods from villages, subdistricts, and other areas around the city are sent to be traded. In this market there is a large system that makes the market “live” in which there are interrelated actors. Some of the actors in the traditional market system such as the Beringharjo Market are women who work odd jobs. To see this phenomenon, this study used an ethnographic method to delve deeper into the phenomena that occur from the point of view of stakeholders in Beringharjo Market. The results of study showed that Beringharjo Market always changes from time to time, both physically and the actors who “live it”. Women who work in al kind of work become one of the actors who play an important role in the sustainability of dynamic market activities.

Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight over Women’s Work

Abstract: In 2018, the total fertility rate in the United States hit an all-time low of 1.73 (or 1,728 births per 1,000 women).1 The US birthrate has been below what is necessary to replace the current popul...

The fragility of women’s work trajectories in Chile

Abstract: How are the work trajectories of Chilean women? This qualitative study analyzes the female work trajectories through interviews and biograms in a sample of 50 Chilean women, professionals and non-professionals, between the ages of 24 and 88. The article proposes an original typology of female work trajectories and relates type of work trajectory with Piore’s theory of labor market segmentation. The paper discusses the challenges and weaknesses of the Chilean women’s labor outcome and presents recent data to extrapolate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable work trajectories. It considers the type of State and possible actions to achieve greater welfare and social development regarding gender equality.

Merging the public and private spheres of women's work: Narratives from women street food vendors during Covid‐19 crisis

Abstract: Feminist economists have long questioned the dichotomy between the “private” versus “public” spheres of women's work and have argued for a more nuanced understanding of the marketable paid work and the unpaid work of household caregiving. This paper focuses on women street food vendors' (SFVs) experiences before and during Covid‐19 pandemic to understand how street food vending as a livelihood activity interacts with social dimensions like gender and division of labor. Through multiple in‐depth interviews with 23 women street vendors in Bengaluru, India, before and during the pandemic, we show that there is a blurring of the dichotomy between the work done in the private and public spaces before the pandemic, which is disrupted by Covid‐19 crisis. The first half of the paper explores the household labor dynamics in the context of paid and unpaid work of women and explains how the women SFVs, capitalizing on their existing skills of “ cooking ,” were able to gain agency and recognition for themselves within the households. The second half of the paper focuses on the narratives of the same women SFVs during the first wave of the Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. We find that the Covid crisis brought back the dichotomy between private and public spheres, making it more pronounced, with women losing their control over the public sphere and their work being restricted only to the private sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Gender, Work & Organization is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Why we shouldn’t measure women’s labour force participation in pre-industrial countries

Abstract: Labour force participation was designed to measure contemporary labour markets, and does a poor job of measuring work, particularly women’s work, in the past. When we measure labour force participa...

A large and troubling iceberg: sexism and misogyny in women’s work as sport coaches

Abstract: In the wake of a number of high profile cases, sport organisations in Canada, are taking abuse and harassment in sport more seriously. For the most part, recent initiatives have addressed the harms...

The Relationship between Young Women’s Work-Family Orientations and Educational Transitions in Early Adulthood:

Abstract: The primary aim of this paper is to examine the links between young women’s schematic configurations about work and family with their educational attainment at critical transitions of early adultho...

Women's Work: Education-focused Academics in Higher Education

Abstract: We are the midst of accelerated change in the academic workforce. Academic roles, being a resilient mixture of research and education, are differentiating. An education-focused academic role, rather than one solely focused on disciplinary research, is gaining credibility and value. With the rise of the education-focused academic roles, questions are being raised about whether this new form of education-focused academic will continue to be overly represented by women in a new form of “women's work.” In the next decade, as academic roles continue to differentiate, care needs to be taken not to repeat the practice of the last 100 years which has seen gender bias continue. We will present four profiles of education-focused women academics, the snakes and ladders in their careers, and the strategies needed to ensure that women progress with equal recognition in these complex but exciting times.

Tribal women’s work-life balance: an identity-based approach

Abstract: This paper aims to examine the work-life balance (WLB) experiences of tribal working women belonging to the matrilineal Khasi and Jaintia communities of Meghalaya, India, using an identity-based approach.,Semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 tribal women working in the formal sector helped generate descriptions of the subjective subliminal tensions they experienced in their efforts to balance work and home life.,Six key themes emerged: webs of role-based responsibilities; reframing family around work; revising self-identity through work; challenges and coping tactics; traditional community influences on management of work and home life; and enacting womanhood as problem-solving.,This study contributes to the literature on women and WLB in that it expands the theoretical understanding of the impact of identity work on women’s WLB.,A healthy WLB is crucial for enhanced intrinsic motivation and consequently women’s psychological empowerment and career satisfaction. This has important social and practical implications for enriching tribal women’s quality of life in India and facilitating their contribution towards the betterment of their communities and the economy at large. To this end, policymakers should launch awareness campaigns pertaining to tribal women’s WLB, to aid organizations in rolling-out contextually relevant work-life management programmes for these women.,This study extends an identity-based approach as a general theory of the self to examine matrilineal tribal women's WLB construction as a distinct form of “doing” and “being”.

Norms that matter: Exploring the distribution of women’s work between income generation, expenditure-saving, and unpaid domestic responsibilities in India

Abstract: Based on primary data from India, this paper analyses the reasons underlying women's low labour force participation. In developing countries, women engaged in unpaid economic work in family enterprises are often not counted as workers. Women are involved in expenditure-saving activities, i.e. productive work within the family, over and above domestic chores and care work. We document the fuzziness of the boundary between domestic and unpaid (and therefore invisible) productive work which leads to mismeasurement of women's work.

Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy

Abstract: As the world has descended into an economic crisis prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this volume feels particularly timely. Its focus is on women's labor in the aftermath of the previous global recession, launched by the 2007–8 financial crisis. As the degree of countries’ integration into the global financial market differed, this recession unfolded differently, hitting stronger economies that were more dependent on the global market. Comprising work from twenty-six researchers, Global Women's Work offers much more than an analysis of short-term consequences of recession on women's work and employment: many contributions discuss longer-term trends in policy and activism as well. Articles investigate a plethora of crucial topics in gender and labor history: women laborers and the state, women's labor activism in international organizations, labor and migration, and the interrelation between conservative traditionalism in family policies and marginalization of women...

Women’s work in small-scale fisheries: a framework for accounting its value

Abstract: Women play an important role in small-scale fisheries around the world. Their work along the entire fish value chain contributes to the productivity of the sector and enhances household income. But...

The Centrality of Women’s Work and the Sexual and International Division of Care Labor: Brazil, France, and Japan

Abstract: The analysis of the sexual and international divisions of care work brings about the centrality of women’s work. This chapter will explore deeply this argument by comparing three countries—Brazil, France, and Japan. These three societies are profoundly different not only in terms of economic and technological aspects but also in the particular ways they have been experiencing economic crisis. The chapter will explore the behavior of the crucial actors in care economy, namely the State, the market, and the family in order to document how they come together to impact the modalities of the sexual and international divisions of labor. The professionalization of care work entails the need for vocational training, and the chapter shows the different ways the three countries meet this requirement. Theoretical questions raised by the field work are discussed in the conclusion: theories of care and sociological paradigms, the theory of intersectionality (interdependence between gender, race, and class relations), and the centrality of women’s work.