tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352484297955368438.post7243825544476621080..comments2023-11-05T01:39:07.313-07:00Comments on used to be somebody: the truth about the pay gapusedtobesomebodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08983649812225048033noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352484297955368438.post-50200443007566658782009-11-12T13:00:07.421-08:002009-11-12T13:00:07.421-08:00I worry about the cost of the recession to women a...I worry about the cost of the recession to women and not just financially. In the States, they like to trumpet that women now outnumber men in the workforce for the first time, but at what cost if they are being forced into low paid, part-time jobs just because their other half has lost his (or hers in the more liberal states). It feels like the same thing is happening here if you ask me given that plenty of nurseries are busier than ever. If that means mums are being ripped away from their children to earn a paltry sum then that's tragic. If you ask me.Babies who brunchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07544240605254105392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352484297955368438.post-64679222689699575222009-11-12T09:26:53.325-08:002009-11-12T09:26:53.325-08:00Yes, the 11% of working men who work part-time are...Yes, the 11% of working men who work part-time are interesting. I suspect these are often the real "pin-money" jobs -- retired men doing a little something congenial for what is truly very little money. Conversely there are probably more high-powered women working short weeks than high-powered men. However the average that the ONS are using is the median, which is less affected by the wages of a few high-earners. (You remember they got very cross when Harriet Harman used the mean figure for the pay gap in a government department, as it came out much worse.)<br /><br />The median part-time women's wage is £7.86 an hour. This is a different world from that of many <br />readers of the broadsheets, and presumably from most professional share-the-load-(and-the-joy) fathers.<br /><br />The official stats are unlikely to cover the real impact of the recession on women because of the hidden army working unofficially. Interestingly, the pay rates for the lowest paid full-time decile rose more than for the highest decile -- possibly through job losses of the very lowest-paid.<br /><br />Hmm, I have just found that the mean of men's part-time wages is higher than women's -- by 13.2%! http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ashe1109.pdf. I thought that at the time of the Harman dust-up the ONS promised us a detailed guide to good practice on gender statistics. There is a Gender Statistics User Group but there doesn't seem to be much action there.AEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05066999132537426377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352484297955368438.post-60530544453540038072009-11-12T08:05:42.452-08:002009-11-12T08:05:42.452-08:00Interpreting these figures is always a frightful a...Interpreting these figures is always a frightful and emotive task. Deciphering discrimination, occupational choice, gender and class issues is near impossible to achieve without inciting emotive narratives. <br />To respond to your points gaby, I would say the fact that women tend to be in the public sector is the main reason the gap has diminshed, where there were positive awards across the board and explicit efforts to close pay gaps (such as less room for pay negotiation which tends to favour bolshy men).<br />I think what your post really demonstrates however, is that if feminist campaigners wish to protect the interests of part-time working class vulnerable women, the main division is not between men and women but the classes. As with much of the identity politics that the middle class left has converted to (from the seemingly outdated class based conflicts of socialism), it lacks an understanding of the true power inequality dynamic and that is class not gender or race. <br />Poor women do badly because they lack power in the job market, as do poor men. Lets solve the class pay gap and then we will particularly help poor women!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03594873211906770193noreply@blogger.com