More women in jobs as men lose out
WOMEN in the workforce have strongly outperformed men through the financial crisis, according to analysis published today by a leading employment body.
There are now 387,000 fewer men in work than there were at the start of the recession, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), compared with a decline of just 8,000 women.
From the first quarter of 2008, the gap between the male and female unemployment rates has climbed from 0.8 percentage points to 1.3 as the male jobless rate increased.
The 50-64 year old age group has seen the biggest changes for female workers – an additional 271,000 entered the labour market, and an extra 200,000 more are now in work, compared with a rise in male employment in the age bracket of just 3,000.
“With the modern generation of 50-something women more likely to view Madonna than Grandma Grey as a role model, the economically active older woman is well on course to be ever more prominent in British workplaces in the coming years,” said CIPD boss John Philpott.