A report picked up today by the Beeb highlights the disparity between male and female redundancies that prompts the *interesting* headline 'Downturn "Hitting women harder."
The research, undertaken by the Trades Union Congress, found that the female redundancy rate for women had risen by 2.3%, almost double the rate for men. So far, so tuttable. But it's not really as though an unemployed woman is now more of an issue than in previous recessions...is it?
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said it was going to be an "equal opportunities recession", compared to the aftermath of Britain's previous economic downturns.
Oh, great. Cheers for that.
He explained: "Job losses in sectors where men predominate such as manufacturing and construction are now being balanced by job losses in retail and hospitality where more women than men work."
We're all in the same boat now, apparently. HMS Screwed.
But Oh, Wait..
"The study, published ahead of Wednesday's unemployment figures which are expected to show another big rise in the jobless total, also found women now earn more than men in a fifth of couples."
Put another, less reactionary way, 80% of men still earn more than their female counterparts. These kinds of reports overshadow the real issues when it comes to equality in the jobs market, and while it might seem like a backburner topic - as the current Breaking News (hardly) in the background blares behind me 'It's Official: The UK is in a recession' - when things do finally start to pick up again, we'll see who gets re-employed first.
