Recession affects men and women differently
Representatives from the local business, trade unions, political and educational worlds within Stourbridge met at the Lye Community Centre last week to discuss the impact of the recession on women.
According to TUC research women’s jobs are disappearing at twice the rate of those jobs that traditionally employ men. Bronwyn McKenna, Director of Organising & Membership for Unison stated “In past recessions which hit manufacturing, men lost their jobs. In this recession, more service jobs are being affected and this will impact on women. Many Unison members are working part-time or are in low paid jobs where they increase income by working additional hours. Without the extra hours, low-paid workers struggle to meet bills and end up borrowing.”
Tina Dalzell, Retail Development Coordinator, Stourbridge College and currently seconded to Westfield, showed the way forward. Tina has been running the Retail Academy at Merry Hill since March 2008. 108 students of all ages, most of whom haven’t worked for several if not many years, have taken the retail excellence training. They have completed work experience in seventy different stores and 40% of them have found permanent employment. Training is up to NVQ level three and is combined with an apprenticeship programme. 60% of the students are women and most have been on benefits and have not worked outside the home for many years.
The meeting heard that there were a number of supervisory and management level jobs available at Merry Hill currently, but these jobs required flexibility which is often more difficult for women who have family responsibilities.
At the other end of the spectrum, Charlotte Ritchie, Director of Policy & Lobbying, Black Country Chamber of Commerce, quoted anecdotal evidence which had come to the Chamber via recent business surveys that suggested companies run by women had taken a different approach to credit and the recession. A greater proportion of female run companies were weathering the recession than companies run by men. Women owned and/or run companies tended to grow more slowly with less reliance on credit than those run or owned by men according to the Chamber, this might have led to less spectacular growth during the good times for female run businesses but there is a better survival record now the economy has hit the buffers.
The meeting was chaired and organised by Margot James who is Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Women, as well as being the party’s parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge. Margot said “there should be no diluting of the equality agenda in response to the economic downturn, it is crucial that women have the right to request flexible working, many women have caring responsibilities for older family members as well as children; business does not operate in a vacuum, like everyone else companies have responsibilities to our wider society, honouring equal pay and doing as much as possible to provide opportunities for flexible working are ways in which business can contribute to family life which is so fundamental to improving society.”
