Government continues to leave women behind

Government plans for growth continue to leave many women behind, according to a new report by women’s campaigning group The Fawcett Society.

The changing labour market: delivering for women, delivering for growth warns that failure to take action risks creating a “female unfriendly” labour market. Key points in the report are that women’s unemployment has risen to a 26-year high while men’s is decreasing.

And three-fifths of “new” private sector jobs have gone to men, while almost three times as many women as men have become long term unemployed in the last two-and-a-half years — 103,000 women in comparison to 37,000 men.

Furthermore, women have borne the brunt of cuts to the public sector workforce so far, with around 75% of these cuts yet to take place.

The report points out that if women continue to make up the majority of those losing their jobs, but the minority of those benefitting from new employment opportunities, the worst case scenario would see some 1.48 million women unemployed by 2018.

www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Fawcett-The-changing-labour-market.pdf