Women and the recession

Lucinda Adam The Politics Show South East

Women in the South East are being hit hard by the recession.

The most recent Labour Force Survey figures showed the decline in female employment in the South East is continuing and is falling faster than male employment.

Female employment in the South East declining

In recent years, female employment in the South East had been rising steadily, reaching a peak of 1.98m in June 2008.

But since then, the number of women in employment has been falling, standing at 1.95m in December 2008.

The most recent Labour Force Survey figures showed the decline in female employment in the South East is continuing, falling faster than male employment.

Although men are finding it tough too, male employment in the South East fell by a mere 1,000 in the three months to December.

Women's jobs vulnerable?

Women's jobs vulnerable in the recession

The South East Economic Development Agency (Seeda) believes that women are being affected by the recession more than ever before because of high rates of female participation in the labour market in the last 10 years, particularly since the last recession, and the nature of women's employment.

Seeda says the sharp fall in women's employment could be explained by London and the South East being hit by the economic downturn earlier than other regions because of the high proportion of service sector employment.

Services like the financial sector and retail are more open to global markets and have therefore been more exposed to the global downturn.

Women are also more likely to take up temporary and part time work, which are often the first to go when employers begin to cut back.

More rights for women

This week, the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for greater equality for women, released a report saying that women need to be given more employment rights and more influence at work in order to safeguard their position in the labour force during the recession.

Pam Alexander: promoting entrepreneurship important

However, the Women's Enterprise Task Force, a national pro-enterprise organisation which is supported by Seeda, and which is co-chaired by Seeda's Chairman Pam Alexander, believes that promoting entrepreneurship among women is just as important.

Initial findings from research carried out by the task force suggests that, while women in employment are suffering, female entrepreneurs are not doing too badly in the recession.

They say this may be a result of their tendency to borrow less money and pursue more conservative business models than their male counterparts.

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