DOCSLIB.ORG

Working Time and the Future of Work in Canada a Nova Scotia Gpi Case Study

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Working Time and the Future of Work in Canada a Nova Scotia Gpi Case Study M E A S U R I N G S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T A P P L I C A T I O N O F T H E G E N U I N E P R O G R E S S I N D E X T O N O V A S C O T I A WORKING TIME AND THE FUTURE OF WORK IN CANADA A NOVA SCOTIA GPI CASE STUDY Prepared by: Linda Pannozzo BSc, BEd, BJ and Ronald Colman, Ph.D April, 2004 GENUINE PROGRESS INDEX 2 Measuring Sustainable Development ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS GPI Atlantic is grateful to Health Canada for providing funding support for research on major sections of this report as part of a research program on the health impacts of economic change. The author wishes to thank all those who directly helped with this report by providing detailed information upon request. This includes Anders Hayden, Juliet Schor, Andrew Harvey, Mike McCracken, Larry Haiven, Frank Reid, Andrew Heisz, Colin Dodds, and Laura Landon. Thanks also go out to Mary MacInnis, a Certified Accountant in Chester, Nova Scotia, who provided income tax simulations free of charge at her busiest time of year. The reviewers of this report, who generously offered their time, patience, and expertise were Anders Hayden, Andrew Harvey, Juliet Schor, Mike McCracken, Andrew Heisz, and Arthur Donner. Their help and input has been invaluable. During the research stage of this report the pioneering work of many individuals provided the inspiration needed to continue. These include Linda McQuaig, Juliet Schor, Anders Hayden, Frank Reid, Theodore Roszak, Simone Weil, Jim Stanford, Heather Menzies, and Barbara Ehrenreich. Their work and ideas were paramount in shaping and informing this study. The author would particularly like to acknowledge the work of the Advisory Group on Working Time and the Distribution of Work, headed by Arthur Donner, which provided strong evidence that work reduction and work hours redistribution can work in Canada and is worth trying. Many thanks also go to Laura Landon, Anne Monette and Bill Turpin, who helped with technical difficulties and the final proofreading and formatting of the report. Special thanks to Hans Messinger and Jacques Ouelette at Statistics Canada who helped provide GPI Atlantic with much needed data. Finally, the author wishes to express personal gratitude for the sounding board provided by her partner in life, Michael Oddy. He was also unofficial research assistant, gofer, newspaper clipper, and caffeine provider. Inspiration for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index came from the ground-breaking work of Redefining Progress, which produced the first GPI in the United States in l995. Though GPI Atlantic's methods differ in many ways, we share with the original GPI the attempt to build a more comprehensive and accurate measure of wellbeing than can be provided by market statistics alone. Needless to say, any errors and all viewpoints and interpretations of the data are the sole responsibility of the authors and GPI Atlantic. GENUINE PROGRESS INDEX 3 Measuring Sustainable Development The GPI Work Hours Component has been reviewed in whole or in part by: Arthur Donner: Economic consultant, who chaired both the federal Advisory Group on Working Time and Distribution of Work, and the Ontario Government's Task Force on Hours of Work and Overtime. Andrew Harvey: Professor of Economics and Director of the Time Use Research Program at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Anders Hayden: Author of Sharing the Work, Sparing the Planet. Work Time, Consumption and Ecology. Also the Policy Coordinator for 32 HOURS: Action for Full Employment, in Toronto, Ontario. Andrew Heisz: Senior Research Economist with Statistics Canada's Business and Labour Market Analysis Division. Also co-author of forthcoming Statistics Canada report on Annual Work Hours in Canada, and author of several Statistics Canada analytical papers. Mike McCracken: CEO of Ottawa-based Informetrica Limited, an economic research firm. Also business advisor to the Donner Commission. Juliet Schor: Author of The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure and The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer. Former director of women's studies at Harvard University and a nationally recognized social economist, author, educator, and researcher. Currently professor of sociology at Boston College in Massachusetts. GENUINE PROGRESS INDEX 4 Measuring Sustainable Development TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables.............................................................................................................................. 8 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 10 Executive Summary.................................................................................................................. 13 Definitions................................................................................................................................ 60 Foreword .............................................................................................................................67 Introduction .......................................................................................................................73 Part One - Work Hours & The Changing Nature of Work Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................78 Chapter 2. Work Hours – an Historical Perspective........................................86 Chapter 3. Trends in Work Hours.............................................................................94 3.1 Reduction, Stabilization, Polarization. ...............................................................94 3.2 Hours Polarization: The Long and Short of it....................................................99 3.2.1 Polarization and Three 'Labour Market Phenomena'................................ 111 3.3 Overtime and the Long Hours Culture ............................................................. 118 3.3.1 Trends..................................................................................................... 118 3.3.2 Reasons for Overtime.............................................................................. 127 3.4 Total Work Hours............................................................................................ 137 3.4.1 Unpaid Work .......................................................................................... 137 3.4.2 The Rise of the Dual-Earner Family........................................................ 138 3.4.3 Family Work Effort and Earnings ........................................................... 145 3.5 Moonlighting................................................................................................... 149 3.6 Self-employment ............................................................................................. 154 3.7 Productivity and Wellbeing ............................................................................. 159 3.7.1 The "Productivity Dividend"................................................................... 164 3.7.2 "Productivity Offsets" ............................................................................. 166 Chapter 4. Contingent Work, 'Junk Jobs' and 'Post-it-note-people'....... 169 4.1 The Rise of the Part-time Job........................................................................... 170 4.1.1 Underemployment or Involuntary Part-time ............................................ 175 4.1.2 Characteristics of Part-time Work ........................................................... 179 4.2 Temporary Work ............................................................................................. 181 4.3 Shift work and the New Economy.................................................................... 185 4.4 The Global Assembly Line .............................................................................. 187 4.5 Working for the Computer............................................................................... 192 GENUINE PROGRESS INDEX 5 Measuring Sustainable Development Chapter 5. The Collapse of Work: Unemployment........................................ 195 5.1 Trends ............................................................................................................. 196 5.2 "Hidden" Unemployed..................................................................................... 200 5.3 Duration of Unemployment ............................................................................. 207 5.4 Skill Mismatches and Structural Unemployment.............................................. 209 5.5 'Under the Table' Economy.............................................................................. 210 5.6 EI benefits and Rising Insecurity ..................................................................... 211 5.7 Causes of Unemployment ................................................................................ 213 5.7.1 Globalization .......................................................................................... 213 5.7.2 Deflationary Policies............................................................................... 213 5.7.3. Technology............................................................................................ 215 Part Two - Costs of Overwork & Underwork Chapter 6. Introduction .............................................................................................. 218 Chapter 7. Costs of Work Stress and the Long Hours Culture................. 220 7.1 Causes of Work Stress
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Proquest Dissertations
    INFORM ATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fi'om the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quali^ of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North2^eeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 OPENING TECHNOLOGY DISCOURSES TO DIFFERENCE: A RHIZOANALYSIS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Patricia Ann O'Riley, B.Ed., M.A.
    [Show full text]
  • UNEMPLOYMENT and LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION: a PANEL COINTEGRATION ANALYSIS for EUROPEAN COUNTRIES OZERKEK, Yasemin Abstract This
    Applied Econometrics and International Development Vol. 13-1 (2013) UNEMPLOYMENT AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION: A PANEL COINTEGRATION ANALYSIS FOR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES OZERKEK, Yasemin* Abstract This paper investigates the long-run relationship between unemployment and labor force participation and analyzes the existence of added/discouraged worker effect, which has potential impact on economic growth and development. Using panel cointegration techniques for a panel of European countries (1983-2009), the empirical results show that this long-term relation exists for only females and there is discouraged worker effect for them. Thus, female unemployment is undercount. Keywords: labor-force participation rate, unemployment rate, discouraged worker effect, panel cointegration, economic development JEL Codes: J20, J60, O15, O52 1. Introduction The link between labor force participation and unemployment has long been a key concern in the literature. There is general agreement that unemployment tends to cause workers to leave the labor force (Schwietzer and Smith, 1974). A discouraged worker is one who stopped actively searching for jobs because he does not think he can find work. Discouraged workers are out of the labor force and hence are not taken into account in the calculation of unemployment rate. Since unemployment rate disguises discouraged workers, labor-force participation rate has a central role in giving clues about the employment market and the overall health of the economy.1 Murphy and Topel (1997) and Gustavsson and Österholm (2006) mention that discouraged workers, who have withdrawn from labor force for market-driven reasons, can considerably affect the informational value of the unemployment rate as a macroeconomic indicator. The relationship between unemployment and labor-force participation is an important concern in the fields of labor economics and development economics as well.
    [Show full text]
  • ED309204.Pdf
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 309 204 UD 026 853 AUTHOR O'Neill, June; And Others TITLE The Economic Progress of Black Men in America. Clearinghouse Publication 91. INSTITUTION Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Oct 86 NOTE 166p. AVAILABLE FROMUnited States Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC 20425. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DErCRIPTORS *Black Employment; Blacks; Civil Rights Legislation; *Economically Disadvantaged; *Education Work Relationship; Equal Opportunities (Jobs); Labor Market; *Males; Multivariate Analysis; *Racial Differences; Racial Discrimination; Research Proposals; *Salary Wage Differentials; Unemployment IDENTIFIERS '.*Economic Equity ABSTRACT This report attempts to identify and analyze the causes of the differences between the earnings and employment of black males and white males. Although the earnings gap between black and white men was substantially reduced between 1940 and 1980, black men still earn less than white men. While the relative earnings of black men has risen since 1940, their relative employment has declined. Factors that influence the earnings gap include the following: (1) discrimination; (2) education; (3) region of residence; (4) industrial sector; and (5) marital status. The report finds that while a narrowing of racial differences in worker characteristics accounts for part of the earnings convergence, other factors, including declining racial prejudice, federal civil rights policies, and unmeasured changes in employment skills,
    [Show full text]
  • The Police Response to Homelessness
    CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES The Police Response to Homelessness CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES The Police Response to Homelessness June 2018 This publication was supported by the Motorola Solutions Foundation. The points of view expressed herein are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Motorola Solutions Foundation or all Police Executive Research Forum members. Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, D.C. 20036 Copyright © 2018 by Police Executive Research Forum All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-934485-43-9 Graphic design by Dave Williams. Text photos by Sarah Mostyn, PERF. Cover photo credits, from upper left, clockwise: • NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo offers a new pair of boots he purchased for a homeless man. Photo by Jennifer Foster. • Hillsborough County, FL Sheriff’s Deputy Linda Ruggerio shares her lunch with a young homeless man. Photo by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. • Miami Beach, FL police officers deliver mosquito repellent to community members. Photo by Valerie Navarrete. • Santa Cruz, CA police officers conducting a survey of homeless persons in order to gather information and direct individuals to services. Photo by Santa Cruz Police Dept. • Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies and employees of Safe Harbor, a homeless shelter and jail diversion created by the Sheriff’s Office. See pp. 12-13 of this report. Photo by PCSO. Contents Acknowledgments .....................................................................................................1 The Police Response to Homelessness: Problem-Solving, Innovation, and Partnerships ....................... 3 By Chuck Wexler Sidebar: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Opens a $2.3 Million Facility to Help Homeless Persons ...................................................................................12 What We Know About Homelessness .....................................
    [Show full text]
  • Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective
    IRLE IRLE WORKING PAPER #12-88 April 1988 Interwar Unemployment In International Perspective Barry Eichengreen and Tim Hatton Cite as: Barry Eichengreen and Tim Hatton. (1988). “Interwar Unemployment In International Perspective.” IRLE Working Paper No. 12-88. http://irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers/12-88.pdf irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers Institute for Research on Labor and Employment UC Berkeley Title: Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective Author: Eichengreen, Barry, University of California, Berkeley Hatton, Tim, University of Essex Publication Date: 04-01-1988 Series: Working Paper Series Publication Info: Working Paper Series, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley Permalink: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bw188gk Keywords: Eichengreen, Hatton, unemployment, international perspective Copyright Information: All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Contact the author or original publisher for any necessary permissions. eScholarship is not the copyright owner for deposited works. Learn more at http://www.escholarship.org/help_copyright.html#reuse eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective Barry Eichengreen University of California, Berkeley Tim Hatton University of Essex January 1988 This paper is the editors' introduction to a volume of the same name, to be published by Martinus Nijhoff later this year. INTERWAR UNEMPLOYMENT IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE The outstanding internal economic problem of the interwar period in all countries studied was undoubtedly unemployment. Next to war, unemployment has been the most widespread, most insidious and most corroding malady of our generation; it is the specific disease of western countries in our time.
    [Show full text]
  • 2010 Better Newspaper Contest
    Winners’C ircle 2010 Better Newspaper Contest Sponsored by TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION 2 2010 Better Newspaper Contest Winners’ Circle Winners’ C ircle Contents TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION 718 West Fifth St., Ste. 100 Community Service.........................................................................3 Austin, Texas 78701 512-477-6755 FAX 512-477-6759 Special Sections.........................................................................3, 33 www.texaspress.com General Excellence.........................................................................4 TPA CONTEST COMMITTEE Chairman Russel Skiles, News Writing.....................................................................................6 Lamesa Press-Reporter Bill Crist, Advertising..........................................................................................8 The Cameron Herald Wanda Brooks, Feature Story....................................................................................11 Moore County News-Press Terry Collier, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post Headline Writing.................................................................................14 Tania French, Port Lavaca Wave Editorials...............................................................................................16 Roy Robinson, The Graham Leader Feature Photo...................................................................................18 Chad Ferguson, Banner Press News-Columbus News Photo......................................................................................21 Ken
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 Edition Alzheimer’S Disease
    2021 EDITION ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE QUALITY HEALTH RELATED INFORMATION CAREFULLY SELECTED BY YOUR LIBRARIES 2 ABOUT COORDINATION – QUEBEC PUBLIC Biblio-Santé is a program of the Quebec Public Library LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Association. The ABPQ is made up of more than 179 member Clémence Tremblay-Lebeau, Project manager municipalities and corporations, for a total of over BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESEARCH 317 autonomous libraries. Biblio-Aidants is available in more than 780 participating public libraries as well as Gabrielle C. Beaulieu, Project manager Audrey Scott, Intern librarian associated health libraries throughout Quebec. Visit our Clémence Tremblay-Lebeau, Project manager website to see if your library participates in the program. CONTENT REVIEW AND EDITING ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sandra Cliche-Galarza, Intern librarian Biblio-Santé is an initiative of the Charlemagne, L’Assomption Fannie Labonté, Member services and events coordinator and Repentigny libraries that was started under the name Clémence Tremblay-Lebeau, Project manager Biblio-Aidants. The Quebec Public Library Association would like to thank these three cities for allowing it to extend the LAYOUT AND DESIGN program to the rest of Quebec by transferring the copyright. Steve Poutré DGA VISIT OUR WEBSITE You will find all of the Biblio-Santé booklets and additional information. bibliosante.ca The information provided does not replace a diagnosis or medical examination by a physician or qualified health professional. The content of this booklet was verified in the spring of 2021 and will be
    [Show full text]
  • Women in the World of Work. Pending Challenges for Achieving Effective Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean.Thematic Labour Overview, 2019
    5 5 THEMATIC Labour Women in the World of Work Pending Challenges for Achieving Effective Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean 5 Women in the World of Work Pending Challenges for Achieving Effective Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean Copyright © International Labour Organization 2019 First published 2019 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Licensing), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected]. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organ- ization may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. ILO Women in the world of work. Pending Challenges for Achieving Effective Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean.Thematic Labour Overview, 2019. Lima: ILO / Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2019. 188 p. Employment, labour market, gender, labour income, self-employment, equality, Latin America, Central America, Caribbean. ISSN: 2521-7437 (printed edition) ISSN: 2414-6021 (pdf web edition) ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its author- ities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.
    [Show full text]
  • Discouraged Worker Effects and Barriers Against Employment for Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Women
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Dagsvik, John K.; Kornstad, Tom; Skjerpen, Terje Working Paper Discouraged worker effects and barriers against employment for immigrant and non-immigrant women Discussion Papers, No. 845 Provided in Cooperation with: Research Department, Statistics Norway, Oslo Suggested Citation: Dagsvik, John K.; Kornstad, Tom; Skjerpen, Terje (2016) : Discouraged worker effects and barriers against employment for immigrant and non-immigrant women, Discussion Papers, No. 845, Statistics Norway, Research Department, Oslo This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/192827 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Discussion Papers Statistics Norway Research department No. 845 • August 2016 John K. Dagsvik, Tom Kornstad og Terje Skjerpen Discouraged worker effects and barriers against employment for immigrant and non-immigrant women Discussion Papers No.
    [Show full text]
  • What's Behind Declining Male Labor Force Participation
    What’s behind Declining Male Labor Force Participation: Fewer Good Jobs or Fewer Men Seeking Them? Scott Winship MERCATUS RESEARCH Scott Winship. “What’s behind Declining Male Labor Force Participation: Fewer Good Jobs or Fewer Men Seeking Them?” Mercatus Research, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Arlington, VA, 2017. ABSTRACT The recent presidential campaign revived concerns about the state of the Ameri- can job market. Many observers who are convinced that improving employment indicators mask pervasive hardship cite the increase in the number of prime-age men (those between the ages of 25 and 54) who are neither working nor looking for work; that is, men who are out of the labor force, or inactive. While this upward trend is routinely taken as a sign of the economy’s weakness, other interpreta- tions are possible. This paper attempts to clarify why inactivity in the labor force among prime-age men has grown so steadily for so long. It examines trends in a number of labor market indicators to assess the extent to which rising inactivity rates have reflected a worsening of the job market (lower demand) or reduced job-seeking (lower supply). Finally, it takes a detailed look at four different types of prime-age inactive men—the disabled, the retired, those who want a job, and those who do not. The evidence does not support the view that rising inactivity is the result of a weak labor market. Understanding why prime-age male inactivity has risen requires a focus on disability programs. Public policy should focus on helping the unemployed and inactive men who want jobs—the latter a small share of the inactive—and on reforming disability programs to promote independence.
    [Show full text]
  • AA-Postscript 2.Qxp:Layout 1
    LIFESTYLE36 THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015 Music & Movies Yemen film fans find calm in British-era cinema den’s Hurricane offers just one screening a day, but a devoted band of Yemeni film Alovers has kept the British colonial-era cine- ma going through communism, civil war and Al- Qaeda. A handful of ageing cinema buffs files qui- etly into the fading yellow building in Aden’s Crater district at the same time six days a week, just as the sun slips behind the volcanic hills encir- cling the city. This routine-every evening except Saturday-has withstood years of upheaval in vio- lence-wracked Yemen, and most recently weath- ered the political crisis that saw the president flee his residence to sanctuary in Aden. A former British protectorate and prosperous port city, Aden was exposed to foreign arts and culture in a way that set it apart from much of conservative Yemen. It retained its diversity in stark contrast to the austerity of the capital Sanaa, 430 kilometers (260 miles) to the north. When South Yemen gained independence in 1967, its socialist rulers encouraged Aden’s openness. But unification with the north in 1990, fol- A picture in the southern Yemeni city of Aden shows the screen of the Hurricane People sitting on benches before a screening at the Hurricane cinema. lowed by the 1994 crushing of a secession cinema, the city’s only functioning cinema. —AFP photos attempt, replaced the city’s liberalism with a more conservative Islamic climate. Aref Naji Ali, who taneously in Aden. increasing Al-Qaeda attacks, the cinema offers heads the cultural organisation Al-Waddah But the Hurricane’s success ended abruptly punters a rare escape of calm and culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender, Sexuality & Feminism
    Gender, Sexuality & Feminism ___________________________________Article Vol. 1, No. 2, December 2014: 59–81 ‘Man-covery’: recession, labour market, and gender relations in Ireland Nata Duvvury National University of Ireland, Galway Caroline Finn National University of Ireland, Galway Ireland has recently experienced its worst recession in the post-World War II era. The effects on Ireland’s labour market have been stark. This article examines more closely the gender dimensions of the recent recession in Ireland. The evidence suggests that there have been gendered shifts in the labour market. With male-dominated sectors, such as construction and industry, suffering significant decline, men have been increasingly taking up part-time and vulnerable employment, which has led to a certain level of re-structuring and competition within these sectors. In terms of response to the recession, women and men in Ireland have displayed different trends. Among men, the data suggest that there has been largely a discouraged worker effect. For women, however, the response has been much more nuanced. It is older married women who have largely shouldered the burden of recession in Ireland with the strongest evidence of added worker effect among this group. Keywords Recession, gender, added worker effect, discouraged worker effect Corresponding authors: Nata Duvvury: [email protected]; Caroline Finn: [email protected] MPublishing, ISSN: 2168–8850 Gender, Sexuality & Feminism-GSF www.gsfjournal.org http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/gsf.12220332.0001.205 Gender, Sexuality & Feminism 1 (2) 60 Introduction Ireland experienced a period of extraordinary and sustained growth from 1994 through the early years of the twenty-first century, a boom that solidified Ireland’s reputation as the Celtic Tiger1.
    [Show full text]