The findings from a national survey of employees in 2000/01, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of its £4m research programme into the future of work, will be significant for the government's initiatives to promote equal opportunities and work-life balance.
Women with children under 16 still work below average hours but the influence of the factor with dependent children is weakening. Although the increase in their hours relative to women without children could be seen as part of an emancipation of women from the demands of childcare, the change has actually been accompanied by a sharp fall in the satisfaction of women with their working hours. In 1992, 51 per cent of women were either 'completely satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their working hours but by 2000 this had fallen to only 29 per cent.
The survey, which covered 1,100 women in a representative range of occupations, established that women with a dependent child were working about two and a half hours more per week, relative to a woman without a child, than in the early 1990s, although still working fewer hours than similar women without a child. The biggest change in women's hours has come for those whose youngest child is between 12 and 15 (secondary school age). Women in this situation worked five hours a week more on average in 2000 than in the early 1990s, relatively speaking.
Financial necessity continues to be linked to longer hours for women although this source of pressure for women to work longer hours has fallen slightly through the 1990s, from 51 per cent to 49 per cent of all women employees.
Other factors which have become more important in increasing women's hours are the use of Information Technology (IT) in women's jobs, and, to a lesser extent, working in places where unions are recognised. Neither of these influences on working hours applied to male employees. IT is now used in 64 per cent of women's jobs (5l per cent in 1992). By 2000, women using IT in their jobs worked 3.4 hours per week longer than non-users.
Commenting on the significance of the findings for the government's various initiatives, Dr Michael White, of the Policy Studies Institute, co-director of the study, says: "At present, we have at best half the ingredients for women with children to develop a satisfactory working life. The other half must include shorter hours for their male partners, so that they can do more to help at home, and greater equality in pay so that women do not need to work so long to balance the household budget".
These and other findings on working hours and work pressure will be presented at the Work, Employment and Society Conference at Nottingham University on September 11 by the research team from the London School of Economics and the Policy Studies Institute.
For further information, contact Dr Michael White Tel 020 7468 0468
Email m.white@psi.org.uk
Or contact Lesley Lilley or David Ridley in ESRC External Relations on 01793 413119 or 413118.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The ESRC is the UK’s largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It has a track record of providing high-quality, relevant research to business, the public sector and government. The ESRC invests more than £46 million every year in social science research. At any time, its range of funding schemes may be supporting 2,000 researchers within academic institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences, thereby nurturing the researchers of tomorrow. The ESRC website address is http://www.esrc.ac.uk.