Key Issues in Women's Work

<p>Women's employment is one of the most widely-discussed and often-misunderstood issues of modern society. Are women today oppressed or do they have the best of both worlds? Do women have to go out to work to gain equality with men or do they already do more than their share of domestic work caring work and voluntary work as well as work in the informal economy? Do women seek careers on the same terms as men or are they content to be dependent wives or secondary earners taking jobs on a short-term basis? How important is job segregation in explaining the 20% pay gap between men and women? Have equal opportunities laws had any real impact? Are women in Europe lagging behind or are they at the forefront of developments in modern societies? This new updated edition of Catherine Hakim's classic text addresses all the key issues currently debated in relation to women's work - in the domestic sphere as well as paid employment.</p><p>Dr Hakim tests the power of patriarchy theory and preference theory against economic theories. Sex discrimination work-life balance part-time work flexible hours homeworking career patterns across the life cycle labour mobility labour turnover the returns to education occupational segregation the pay gap the glass ceiling and the impact of European Union policies are all considered. Analysis of historical developments over the twentieth century based on censuses is complemented by case studies of people working in occupations undergoing dramatic change. Throughout the book comparisons are drawn between the USA Britain other European countries Canada Australia and also China Japan and other Far Eastern societies.</p><p>The analysis draws on sociology economics psychology labour law history and social anthropology to conclude that the diversity of women's life goals and lifestyle preferences is increasing. This explains the growing polarisation of women's employment and many contradictory recent research results.</p>