1. Job Insecurity and Stress:
Gender Differences in the Credit Crunch Recession
Dr Brendan Burchell
Department of Sociology
University of Cambridge, UK
Thanks to Nurjk Agloni for research and graphics

2. The Claims The real victims of this credit crunch? Women
The Daily Telegraph March 4th
Harriet Harman: Women more worried about economy than men
The Observer, Jan 18
The real victims of this credit crunch? Women
The Sunday Times
January 25, 2009
Women losing jobs twice as fast as men
Independent, Jan 26 According to latest official employment figures, over the last quarter the number of women in full-time jobs fell by 53,000, while the number for men was 36,000.

3. Overview
Definitions of Job Insecurity
Job Insecurity: Gender Differences:-
I. Who will lose their jobs?
II. Who is worried about losing their jobs?
III. Who think they will lose their jobs?
IV. Who will suffer psychologically if they are insecure?
Shock vs chronic consequences

4. 1. Definitions of Job Insecurity

5. 1 Subjective perception of risk of job loss (Cognitive)
Definitions of job insecurity
1 Subjective perception of risk of job loss (Cognitive)
2 Level of worry about job loss (affective)
3 Objective decline in Employment / Redundancy Rate
4 Prevalence of temporary contracts (low, irrelevant)
5 Average tenure (unrelated to insecurity)

6. I. Who will lose their jobs?

7. “According to latest official employment figures, over the last quarter the number of women in full-time jobs fell by 53,000, while the number for men was 36,000”.
Keeping things in perspective:
Drop of 56,000/15M, 0.4%

9. Quarterly Redundancies 1995-2008, per 1,000
Who will lose their job?
Quarterly Redundancies , per 1,000

10. Quarterly Redundancies by Gender, per 1,000
Who will lose their job?
Quarterly Redundancies by Gender, per 1,000

11. Who will lose their job?

13. Who will lose their job?

14. III.Who is worried about losing their jobs?

15. Who is worried about losing their jobs?
Source: Populus January 2009
Question: “I am going to read out some things that different people have identified as worrying aspects of Britain's
economic downturn. For each one I read out please say how concerned you are, using a scale of 0 to 100,
where 0 means it doesn't worry you at all and 100 means it worries you a very great deal “

16. Who is worried about losing their jobs
Source: Populus
Question: “I am going to read out some things that different people have identified as worrying aspects of Britain's
economic downturn. For each one I read out please say how concerned you are, using a scale of 0 to 100,
where 0 means it doesn't worry you at all and 100 means it worries you a very great deal “

17. Gendered Response Styles√? Women are more averse to risk√?
Why do women report more worry about losing their jobs?
Three Hypotheses
Gendered Response Styles√?
Women are more averse to risk√?
Women’s are going to suffer more in the recession XX

18. II. Who think they will lose their jobs?

19. European Working Conditions Survey 2005 Q: Losing job in next 6 months
Who thinks that they will lose their jobs?
European Working Conditions Survey 2005
Q: Losing job in next 6 months
No gender difference in EU or UK
European Social Survey 2006
Q: Losing job and becoming Unemployed in 12 months
(see also Erlinghagen (2008) ESR for – no gender differences)

20. IV. Who will suffer if they are insecure?

21. Who will suffer if they are insecure?

22. Who will suffer if they are insecure?

23. 3. Shock vs chronic consequences of job insecurity

24. Figure 1. The chronology of unemployment and stress
Shock vs chronic consequences
Figure 1. The chronology of unemployment and stress
Start of spell
Recovery, or coping
Low point

25. Shock vs chronic consequences
Chronic Job Insecurity and Psychological Well – Being in the 1990s recession (Burchell, 2008)

26. Shock vs chronic consequences
Chronic Job Insecurity and Psychological Well – Being in the 1990s recession (Burchell, 2008)

27. Shock vs chronic consequences
Figure 2. The effect of job insecurity on Psychological wellbeing over time.
Secure
Shock at first perception of insecurity
Chronic decline
Recovery from shock

28. Men experience higher levels of involuntary job loss than women
Conclusions: Gender
Men experience higher levels of involuntary job loss than women
In past two recessions, Male unemployment rose much faster than Female unemployment All evidence so far suggests more similarity than difference in the current recession.
Women report higher levels of worry about losing their jobs, but also about all other aspects of the economy
The Vacancies Data suggest that he real losers will be entrants to the labour markets – e.g. school leavers, career-break returners.

29. Conclusions: General
Many studies show that job insecurity is a significant threat to employee wellbeing (even if they never lose their jobs). Some studies show this effect is larger for men than women, but Household/Breadwinner Status probably more important than Gender per se. Effects extend to families.
Recently many employees have gone through a “shock” phase of job insecurity. Chronic job insecurity over more than one year is much worse.
Will this recession be different from previous recessions?
Different industries, higher female employment?
Government proactive in attempting to cope with insecurity and unemployment.
“in these early days the Government has power to shape
both the impact of this recession and to build a path to recovery that creates a fairer and stronger economy. Government has a choice as to how workers’ rights are treated during the downturn.” Fawcett Society.