Scottish Government

C hapter Four The Labour Market

This chapter examines statistical evidence of women's and men's participation in the labour market, including employment and unemployment, hours of work, distribution of men and women by occupation and industry, flexible working and self-employment,

4.1 Policy context

Much employment legislation relevant to the equal treatment of women and men in the labour market, and providing support to women's participation through maternity leave provision, is regulated by EU directives, and implemented through the enactment of domestic legislation such as the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Employment Rights Act. Employment is an area reserved to the UK parliament, and thus there is no separate Scottish legislation as such relevant to the promotion of gender equality in the labour market. There are, however, programmes, projects and campaigns relevant to gender equality in the labour market which are supported by the Scottish Executive. This section outlines key policy objectives on gender equality in the labour market to which the EU, the UK government and the Scottish Executive are respectively committed.

4.1.1 EU

In addition to the EU directives on equal treatment, with which member states must comply through enactment of domestic legislation on equal pay and equal treatment, for example, the EU has made commitments to gender equality in employment in its Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, and has also reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality in its social agenda. The Lisbon strategy set as a target an employment rate of 70% for women by 2010 in all member states.

Key EU priorities ( CEC, 2006) on gender equality in the strategy for growth and employment are:

• Reducing the employment rate gap, in particular among older workers;
• Reducing the pay gap;
• Promoting work patterns that fully value the qualifications of workers, while ensuring employment security and social rights and benefits;
• Reforming tax and benefit systems to create incentives and eliminate disincentives for lower earners in households with carers.

Key EU priorities on the reconciliation of work and private life are:

• An increase in provision for childcare and other forms of caring;
• Promotion and dissemination of work-life balance policies;
• Accessibility to public services which are compatible with work schedules;
• Challenging sexist stereotypes and encouraging men to take up their responsibilities in the domestic and family sphere.

4.1.2 UK

Key UK government targets to promote women's economic participation and advancement are published by the Women and Equality Unit ( WEU, 2003, 2005, 2006), and are briefly summarised below.

The Government's overall aim is to increase competitiveness and generate higher levels of sustainable growth and productivity in a modern economy, and it aims to ensure that all women have the opportunity to play a full role in the economic life of the nation, which will both benefit individuals and UK competitiveness and productivity.

Specific objectives include:

• Increasing participation rates for disadvantaged groups, such as lone parents, ethnic minorities, people aged 50 and over, those with the lowest qualifications;
• Reducing the number of children in low-income households;
• Creating more childcare places;
• Reducing the gender pay gap through the encouragement of equal pay reviews;
• Encouraging flexible working;
• Increasing the number of women entrepreneurs;
• Increasing women's representation on Science Engineering and Technology ( SET) related boards and councils;
• Working with business to reverse the serious under-representation of women in ITEC jobs;
• Increasing the proportion of men in the childcare workforce.

The UK government also set up a Women and Work Commission to investigate barriers to gender equality in relation to work and pay. The Commission's report Shaping a Fairer Future, (2006) recommended changes to education to reduce stereotyped choices of careers, better support and training for women to enter a wider range of careers, and action on all causes of the equal pay gap.

4.1.3 Scottish Executive

In line with the general policy objectives of the EU and the UK government, the Scottish Executive also works to promote women's economic participation and advancement. In particular it is committed to the following objectives (Scottish Executive Equality Unit, 2006):

• Reducing the pay gap, through support for the Close the Gap campaign to raise awareness, and through encouraging equal pay reviews, and through carrying out its own equal pay reviews;
• Encouraging flexible working;
• Addressing occupational segregation, through the creation of a cross-departmental group on occupational segregation, and joint work with the Equal Opportunities Commission ( EOC), Scottish Enterprise and Careers Scotland;
• Increasing the number of men working in childcare;
• Tackling gender stereotyping in Modern Apprenticeships;
• Increasing the proportion of women in the Senior Civil Service;
• Supporting women entrepreneurs.

Key points:

• The gender balance in the labour force in Scotland is around 50% women and 50% men, and has been so for some time.
• Men are more likely to be economically active than are women, 83% compared to 76% in 2006, but the gender gap has been decreasing.
• Women are more likely than men to be economically inactive, 24% compared to 17% in 2006.
• As women's participation in the labour market has increased, the gap between women's and men's employment rates had decreased, and was 5% in 2006 compared to 20% in 1984.
• Unemployment has declined to a low level for both women and men, and was at 5% for women and 6% for men ( ILO unemployment measure) in 2005.
• Women are far more likely to work part-time than are men, with 41% of all women workers working part-time in 2005, compared to 10% of male workers.
• Women with dependent children of pre-school age are less likely to be in full-time employment, 24% in 2004, compared to 38% of women with dependent children aged 11-14, and 52% of women with dependent children aged 15 or over.
• Women are more likely than men to use flexible working arrangements, 55% of women workers compared to 22% of male workers in 2005. Part-time work was the common form of flexible working arrangement.
• Women and men are distributed differently across industrial sectors. In 2004, women made up the majority of employees in Public Administration, Education and Health (72%), Distribution, Hotels and Catering and Repairs (56%), and Banking, Finance and Insurance (51%). By contrast men made up the majority of employees in Construction (89%), Energy and Water Supply (82%), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (75%), Manufacturing (73%), and Transport and Communication (72%).
• Women and men are also distributed differently across occupational categories, with in 2006 women representing a large majority of workers in personal services (85%), administrative and secretarial occupations (81%), and sales and customer services occupations (71%). By contrast men represent the large majority of workers in the occupational categories of managers and senior officials (64%), process, plant and machine operatives (86%), and skilled trades (92%).
• Women predominate in key public sector workforces such as teaching (93% of primary teachers, and 58% of secondary teachers in 2004), the NHS (78% in 2005) and local government (67% in 2005), but are under-represented in senior positions.
• Men are more likely to be self-employed than women, with 13% of all male employees being self-employed compared to 6% of female employees in 2006.
• In general both minority ethnic women and men are less likely to be in employment and more likely to be unemployed than the White population, although there are differences between minority ethnic groups in patterns of labour market participation.
• Disabled people are far less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people, with 45% of disabled women of working age being in employment compared to 78% of non-disabled women in 2004, and 47% of disabled men of working age being in employment compared to 85% of non-disabled men in the same year.

4.3 Key Data sources and possible uses of data

4.3.1 Key sources of data

The key data sources for gender disaggregated labour market statistics are the Labour Force Survey ( LFS), Annual Local Labour Force Survey, and Annual Population Survey, though also included in this chapter are administrative data on claimant count unemployment, local government joint staffing watch data, data from the 2001 Census and from the ONS Annual Business Inquiry. However, few of the tables published here are routinely published in this form, though a range of tables from the LFS including gender disaggregated data is available online. There is considerable scope for further analysis of LFS data.

4.3.2 Possible uses of data

Relevant public bodies, such as government departments, the enterprise network, and local authorities, may use such data in fulfilment of their responsibility for economic development and planning. This might include strategies relating to skills development, recruitment, encouragement of investment within particular sectors, and local economic development. In order to tackle gender imbalances key issues to be addressed are flexible working arrangements to facilitate continuity in women's employment, distribution of part-time work and types of part-time work, the improvement of training and career opportunities for part-time workers, occupational segregation, and under-representation of women in senior positions. More detailed profiles by sector, and by geographic area (which LFS data permit) would help identify divergence from the Scottish average, and therefore both where gender inequalities are greatest and smallest. This would inform gender equality schemes, which should also include promotion of gender equalities for the employees of the relevant public bodies.

4.4 The gender balance of the labour force

The patterns of gendered participation in the labour market have changed in significant ways in recent decades, yet there also remain significant differences in the working lives of women and men. Women's share of the labour force in Scotland was 51% in 2005, a share which has increased from 42% in 1976 (see Breitenbach, 1982). Since 1993, women have made up half the labour force, with very slight fluctuations round this point, as Table 4.1 below indicates.

Table 4.1 Distribution of men and women the workforce: 1990-2005 (thousands)

Sources: Quarterly Employee Jobs (December Quarter Each Year)

4.5 Economic activity and inactivit⁵

Rates of economic activity for women and men have changed over time, as Table 4.2 shows. The economic activity rate is a measure of the proportion of people of working age (16-64 for men, 16-59 for women) who are in work or actively seeking work (and includes registered unemployed people). Women's economic activity rate was 76% in 2006, having increased from 63% since 1984. Men's economic activity rate was 83% in 2006, and has declined from 88% in 1984.

Table 4.2 Economic activity and economic inactivity rates, 1984-2006

Source: LFS (Mar-May quarter), not seasonally adjusted

Also reflecting changes in patterns of labour market participation are economic inactivity rates, as also shown in Table 4.2 above. The economically inactive population includes those people not in work or not seeking work for a variety of reasons, including participation in education, ill health/disability, early retirement, or domestic or caring responsibilities. As can be seen from the table above a far higher proportion of women of working age are economically inactive than men of working age, though their rate of economic activity is declining slowly. Men's economic inactivity rates have fluctuated to some extent over the period between 1984 and 2006, though in general have tended to rise from 13% in 1984 to 17 % in 2006. The higher level of economic inactivity for women is likely to reflect caring responsibilities, while the rise for men is likely to reflect increasing participation in higher education and early retirement.

There are differences in the main reasons for economic inactivity for women and men, as Table 4.3 below shows. Far more women than men are economically inactive because of domestic or family responsibilities, and among women this is the largest group which is economically inactive. Among men, those with a long term illness are the biggest group of economically inactive men. However, there is also a relatively large group of women who are economically inactive as a result of long term illness.

Table 4.3 Reasons for economic inactivity, population aged 16-59/64, Scotland, 2006 (Jan-Mar) (thousands) (not seasonally adjusted)

Source: Labour Force Survey
* not available

4.6 Employment and Unemployment Rates

The employment rate for women has similarly increased over the longer term, and declined for men. This is distinguished from the economic activity rate in that it measures the proportion of people in employment in relation to the population of working age (i.e. does not include registered unemployed people).

Table 4.4 Employment rates, 1985; 1995-2006: Scotland

Source: LFS (Mar-May quarter), not seasonally adjusted

Women's employment rate has increased from 57% in 1985 to 72% in 2006, as Table 4.4 above shows. Men's employment rate was at a slightly higher level in 2006 at 77%, and was at a slightly higher rate than in 1985 at 74% though has fluctuated in the intervening period. With the steady increase in women's employment rates, the gap between women's and men's employment rates had declined to 5% in 2006 compared with 17% in 1985.

The unemployment rate for both women and men has fluctuated considerably in recent decades, with periods of high unemployment occurring at times of recession in the 1980s. The general trend since the early 1990s has been for unemployment to decline for both women and men. The unemployment rate measures the proportion of people unemployed in relation to the population of working age. There are however two ways of measuring the unemployment rate. The first is by using the official claimant count, which includes only those people claiming unemployment related benefits. The second is by using the International Labour Organisation ( ILO) definition of the unemployed, which covers people who are: out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work in the next fortnight; or out of work and have accepted a job that they are waiting to start in the next fortnight. Typically rates of unemployment based on the claimant count show men's unemployment as considerably higher than women's unemployment. Using the ILO measure indicates higher unemployment rates for both women and men than that indicated by the claimant count, and it also reduces the difference in unemployment rates between women and men.

Table 4.5 below indicates the decline in unemployment for women and men in Scotland. As noted claimant count measures indicate lower levels of unemployment than the ILO measure, but similarly indicates the decline in levels of unemployment in Scotland. In 2006, the ILO unemployment rate for men was 6% and for women was 5%, less than half that for both sexes in 1985.

Table 4.5 Unemployment rates, 1985; 1995-2006: Scotland

Source: ILO Unemployment - LFS (Mar-May quarter), not seasonally adjusted
Claimant Count - JCP Administrative Database, April each year

There are gender differences in the patterns of long-term unemployment, and the impact of unemployment also differs with age. Table 4.6 below indicates that in all age groups there are more men than women who are long term unemployed (unemployed for a year or more), and that the problem of long-term unemployment is more serious for the older age groups of people aged 35-49 years and 50 years and over.

Table 4.6 Claimant unemployment by sex, age and duration of unemployment, 2001-2006

Source: Office for National Statistics. Scottish Executive (2006) Scottish Economic Statistics, 2006.
Notes: June of each year.
The claimant count consists of people who are claiming unemployment-related benefits.
Approximately 1 percent of all claims are clerical and therefore not included in this dataset.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/11/28151648/0

4.7 Regional variations in employment, economic activity and unemployment

There are variations in the patterns of employment, economic inactivity and unemployment across Scotland, as Table 4.7 below shows. This indicates that in 2004 male employment rates varied from over 88% in the Orkneys and Shetlands to 67% in Glasgow, while female employment rates varied from 80% in Shetland to 63% in Glasgow. While the average gap between male and female unemployment rates was 6%, in some areas it was narrower, such as Argyll and Bute, Renfrewshire and South Ayrshire, while in the Western Isles women's employment rate was higher than men's.

Table 4.7 Employment, economic inactivity, and unemployment rates, by local authority, 2004

Source: Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey
* data not available

Table 4.7 above also shows that economic inactivity rates also varied considerably and were highest in Glasgow for both men and women. The average gap between male and female economic inactivity rates was 8%, and was at its narrowest in the Western Isles at 1%, and at its widest in Aberdeenshire at 14%. Unemployment rates similarly varied, being highest for men in Glasgow, followed by Dundee, and for women in North Ayrshire, while they were lowest for both men and women in East Dunbartonshire. The employment rate for lone parents, the majority of whom are women, was much lower than the employment rate for women overall, 55% compared with 72%. The employment rate for lone parents was highest in the Borders at 88% and lowest in Glasgow at 39%.

4.8 Part-time work and distribution of working hours

While the economic activity and employment rates for women and men have been moving closer together, and while Scotland is already ahead of the EU 2010 target of an employment rate of 70% for women, a major difference between women and men is the extent to which they work part-time (full-time employees are defined as those who normally work more than 30 hours a week).

Of all women in the workforce 41% worked part-time in 2005, while the comparable figure for men was 10 %, as Table 4.8 below shows. This has increased from 38% in 1984, though has declined since 2000, when 45% of women workers worked part-time. For men, the proportion of part-time workers has increased from 4% in 1984 to 10% in 2005. The rate of increase in men's part-time work since 1984 has been greater than that for women's part-time work, though men are still much less likely to work part-time than are women.

Table 4.8 Scotland: employee jobs by sex and mode of employment (thousands), 1984-2005

Source: LFS (Mar-May quarter), not seasonally adjusted

As noted the official definition of part-time work is under 30 hours a week. However, this can vary considerably from, for example, women in professional occupations working 'long' part-time hours to women in low paid unskilled work working only a small number of hours each week. Table 4.9 below indicates the distribution of working hours for all employees, and the differences between women and men in terms of average hours worked. These figures indicate that in 2006 men worked on average 35.7 hours a week in paid work while women worked on average 26.9 hours. Men are also more likely than women to work overtime, which is reflected in the higher proportion of men usually working over 45 hours. While women are most likely to work part-time when their children are young, men with young children tend to work the longest hours.

Table 4.9 Weekly working hours: actual and usual, 2006 (Jan-March)

Source: Labour Force Survey

Table 4.10 below indicates that between 1996 and 2006 the average hours of full-time male and female workers declined slightly, but that the gap between them remained similar at around 7 hours per week. The hours of part-time workers increased slightly for men, but were much the same for women throughout this period.

Table 4.10 Average weekly numbers of hours worked (actual), by sex and mode of working, 1996 -2006

Source: LFS, March to May Quarter, Not Seasonally Adjusted - Self Reported

4.9 Impact of dependent children on patterns of work

The presence of dependent children has an impact on the patterns of employment of parents, though this tends to operate in different ways for men and women. Table 4.11 below illustrates the relationship between the presence of children and employment rates. For fathers in couples in all years, 1996, 2002, and 2006, the employment rates were considerably higher than the average male employment rate for these years, and they were also much higher than the employment rates of mothers in couples. Lone fathers were much more likely than fathers in couples to be unemployed. By contrast, the employment rates of mothers in couples in all years, 1996, 2002, and 2006, were lower than the average female employment rate for these years. Lone mothers had the lowest employment rate among parents, with less than half being in employment in 1996, though this had increased to 55% by 2002. Like lone fathers, lone mothers were much more likely than those in couples to be unemployed.

Table 4.11 Employment and unemployment rates for parents of dependent children, 1996, 2002, 2006

Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter
Notes: 1. Data rounded to the nearest thousand.
* data not available

Table 4.12 below indicates the effect of dependent children of different ages on women's participation in the labour market. It also indicates differences in participation affected by whether or not women live as part of a couple or as a single parent. This indicates that there is not a great difference between the proportion of women with dependent children (69% in 2004) and the proportion of those without dependent children (75% in 2004) in employment. Indeed, of all groups of women the most likely to be employed are those with dependent children aged 15+ (83% in 2004) and aged 11-14 (76% in 2004). Women with pre-school children are the least likely to be in employment. Just as the presence of children affects whether or not women are in employment, it also affects the number of hours they work if they are in employment. There is little difference in the propensity of women with no dependent children and with children aged 15+ to work full-time (54% compared with 52% in 2004). Those least likely to work full-time are women with pre-school children, with 24% of women with children aged 0-2 working full-time in 2004, and 24% of women with children aged 3-4 working full-time. Women with dependent children who live as part of a couple are far more likely than women living as single parents to be in employment (75% compared to 54% in 2004).

Table 4.12 Employment status of women by age of youngest child and whether living in a couple, 2002-2004

Source: LFS - household data, ONS. Figures relate to March to May each year. Scottish Executive (2005a) Pre-School and Childcare Statistics.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/13155926/0

4.10 Flexible working

Data on patterns of flexible working also indicate that it is primarily women with dependent children who make use of these arrangements, though a significant proportion of women without dependent children also do so. As Table 4.13 below shows women are more likely to make use of part-time and flexible working arrangements than men, 55% compared to 22% in 2004. This was true for all forms of flexible working in 2005, though figures for 2004 (in Table 4.14 below) indicated a higher proportion of male employees making use of annualised hours.

Table 4.13 Part-time and flexible working 2005: employees aged 16-64

Source: LFS. EOC (2006a) Facts about Women and Men in Scotland.
'-' data not available
http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/facts_about_Scotland_2006.pdf

Table 4.14 below indicates that a relatively high proportion of women without dependent children use flexible forms of working, predominantly part-time work, at 50%, compared to 68% of women with dependent children. A higher proportion of men without dependent children use flexible forms of working at 26% compared to 18% of men with dependent children.

Table 4.14 Flexible working 2004: employees 16-64

Source: LFS. EOC (2006a) Facts about Women and Men in Scotland.
'-' data not available
http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/facts_about_Scotland_2006.pdf

Part-time work is the major form of flexible working currently used by employees to negotiate combining paid work and caring responsibilities, and is used primarily by women for this purpose. This may be on a temporary basis while children are very young or of pre-school age, or it may be on a long-term basis. The length of time which women work on a part-time basis, as well as the number of hours worked, are significant determinants of their levels of pay, their promotion prospects, and their income in retirement. Thus investigation of patterns of part-time work over the course of women's working lives is important. The kind of part-time work, and the average hours worked, if few, can result in certain groups of women workers being confined to low skilled low paid jobs, and therefore can reinforce their economic disadvantage compared to men over the longer term. There is evidence, however, to suggest that most women working part-time would prefer to continue to do so, rather than to seek full-time hours. As Table 4.15 below indicates, in both 1996 and 2005, men were much more likely than women to be working part-time because they were studying or because they could not find a full-time job. By contrast women part-time workers were much more likely than men to say they did not want a full-time job, 75% in 2005 compared to 41% of men. In 1996, 75 % of women part-time workers cited as their reasons for not wanting a full-time job the desire to spend more time with the family, or domestic commitments, while in 2005, 68% did so.

Table 4.15 Reasons for working part-time, 1996 and 2005

Source: LFS, Autumn Quarter(data only available for autumn quarters and not yet available for 2006)
* estimate is below reliability threshold

As well as flexible working arrangements, also crucial to supporting mothers' involvement in the labour market are the provision of maternity leave and pay, childcare provision, or support for childcare in the form of tax credits, vouchers from employers, and so on. Current levels of childcare provision, and evidence of levels of demand and usage are discussed in Chapter Six on Care and Caring.

4.11 Industrial and occupational distribution of employees

The distribution of their working hours is one major difference between women and men in how they participate in the labour market. The other major differences lie in the industrial distribution of female and male workers, and in their occupational distribution. The distribution of women's and men's employment across sectors of the economy varies, as Table 4.16 below indicates. In 2004, women made up the majority of employees in Public Administration, Education and Health (71.9%), Distribution, Hotels and Catering and Repairs (55.6%), and Banking, Finance and Insurance (50.7%). By contrast men made up the majority of employees in Construction (89%), Energy and Water Supply (81.8%), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (74.9%), Manufacturing (73%), and Transport and Communication (72.2%). Over time there have been some changes in the share of male and female employees within each industrial sector, as Table 4.16 also indicates, with men increasing their share of Manufacturing and Banking, Finance and Insurance, for example.

Table 4.16 Percentage of female employees by industry, 1996-2004

Source: Annual Business Inquiry, ONS.

As well as there being a difference in the industrial distribution of female and male employees, there is a difference in their occupational distribution, with women tending to be concentrated in lower occupational grades. For example, sectors which are particularly male dominated are likely to have a range of skilled jobs performed exclusively or almost exclusively by men, with women in these sectors occupying administrative or service roles in clerical and office work, catering, cleaning and so on. In the service sector, where the majority of women work, while there are likely to be more women in professional and senior occupations, they still tend to be concentrated in lower grades, though the proportion of women in managerial grades has been increasing, and has risen from 32% in 1999 (see Kay, 2001) to 36% in 2006.

Table 4.17 Employment by occupation 1992, 1996: employees and self-employed aged 16 and over

Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter
Notes: 1. Data rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. The Standard Occupational Classification ( SOC) classification changed in 2001, this has resulted in a break in the series.

Tables 4.17 above and 4.18 below indicate the extent to which there is occupational segregation by gender, with women representing a large majority of workers in personal services, administrative and secretarial, and sales and customer services occupations. By contrast men represent the large majority of workers in the occupational categories of managers and senior officials, process, plant and machine operatives, and skilled trades. There have been some changes over time, with, for example, women having increased their share of managerial occupations from 29% in 1992 to 36% in 2006. Though there have been changes in classification of occupations over the period, the statistics suggest an increasing concentration of women within a small number of occupational categories.

Table 4.18 Employment by occupation 2002, 2006: employees and self-employed aged 16 and over

Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter
Notes: 1. Data rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. The SOC classification changed in 2001, this has resulted in a break in the series.

4.12 The gender balance within selected professions

As Tables 4.17 and 4.18 above have indicated, the gender balance in professional occupations was 44% women and 56% men in 2006. Over time women's share of professional occupations has tended to increase, up from 40% in 1992, though the 2006 level represented a slight decrease from 46% in 2002. Women predominate in key public sector workforces such as teaching (93% of primary teachers, and 58% of secondary teachers in 2004), the NHS (78% in 2005) and local government (67% in 2005), but remain under-represented in senior positions. Throughout this report available data on the gender composition of workforces in the public sector, including professional occupations, have been included within the relevant chapters, including data on the civil service, teaching and academic professions, health professions, legal profession, and other public sector workers such as social workers.

Table 4.19 below provides a summary of the gender balance in key areas of local government employment in Scotland, including a number of key areas of professional employment. This indicates that the majority of local government employees in Scotland are women, who make up 66.8% of the local government workforce. Women make up the majority of employees in education and social work, while men make up the majority in the police and fire services.

Table 4.19 Local government employment* by main service group: 2005

Source: Joint Staffing Watch
* Includes temporary and permanent staff, full-time and part-time staff

4.13 Women and men as entrepreneurs

The patterns of self-employment among women and men in Scotland show that men are more than twice as likely as women to be self-employed. As Table 4.20 below indicates, in 2006 of all men in employment 13% of men were self-employed compared to 6% of women. These proportions have remained very similar for the period from 1996 to 2006.

Table 4.20 Proportion of those in employment of working age who are self-employed, 1996-2006

Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter

4.13 Gender and ethnicity

Table 4.21 below shows employment patterns of different minority ethnic groups in Scotland.

Table 4.21 Employment by ethnic group, 2001: people aged 16-74

Source: GROS (2004) Scotland's Census 2001 CD- ROMs version 2. EOC (2006a) Facts about women and men in Scotland.
http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/facts_about_Scotland_2006.pdf

The black and minority ethnic population in Scotland is made up of a number of different groups, of whom the largest are Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian and Chinese. Their patterns of participation in the labour market in general vary as does the pattern of women's participation across different minority ethnic groups. Table 4.21 above indicates that both women and men in all minority ethnic groups in Scotland in 2001 had lower employment rates than the White population, and correspondingly higher unemployment rates than the White population. This difference was particularly marked for Pakistani and Black African populations, who had the lowest employment rates and highest unemployment rates. The majority of minority ethnic women in employment were more likely to be in full-time employment than White women, with the exception of Pakistani women, while minority ethnic men in all groups were more likely than White men to be working part-time.

Because minority ethnic groups represent only 2% of the Scottish population, this creates difficulties for the production of regular data about such groups, since regularly conducted surveys do not contain large enough numbers of minority ethnic populations for disaggregation to be possible. The census, which takes place every 10 years, is currently the only source of comprehensive and reliable data.

Recent research on minority ethnic women in Scotland has indicated that despite their higher rates of unemployment, they are more likely to be working in professional occupations than are White women, 15% compared with 12% ( EOC Scotland, 2006b). Secondary analysis of Census 2001 data by the EOC has also indicated variations in the economic activity of minority ethnic women by geographic location within Scotland, and that for all groups, with the exception of Indian and Bangladeshi women, it is lower in Glasgow than in Edinburgh. Bangladeshi and Chinese women in Highland had higher economic activity rates than in Edinburgh.

In general, minority ethnic populations in Scotland are disadvantaged in terms of their participation in the labour market, with lower levels of employment and higher levels of unemployment. This disadvantage is experienced differentially by different minority ethnic groups and by women and men. Racial discrimination is a contributory factor to this position, and in the case of women, sex discrimination and stereotyping can compound this disadvantage (see, for example, Netto et al, 2001).

4.15 Gender and disability

The population of disabled people in Scotland is not homogenous, which may result in different capacities and different needs for adaptation in relation to labour market participation for different groups and individuals. There are also some gender differences in patterns of disability.

In general disabled people are much less likely to be in work than non-disabled people, as Table 4.22 below shows. In 2005, 45% of disabled women of working age were in employment compared to 79% of non-disabled women, and 48% of disabled men of working age were in employment compared to 86% of non-disabled men. Disabled people were also more likely than non-disabled people to be working part-time, and disabled people were more likely than non-disabled people to be unemployed.

Table 4.22 Employment by disability, 2005: people of working age

Source: ONS (2004) LFS Spring dataset. EOC (2006a) Facts about women and men in Scotland
People with a current disability, including DDA disabled and work-limiting disabled. There are an estimated 324 thousand disabled men and 329 thousand disabled women of working age.
http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/facts_about_Scotland_2006.pdf

Table 4.23 below illustrates the different patterns of economic activity according to different definitions of disability. In 2006, those who were defined as 'long-term disabled' had very low employment rates, with this being particularly the case for women. Of other categories of disabled people, those defined as 'current disabled' had the highest economic activity and employment rates, and for both men and women these were above the average employment rates for all men and women. Those defined as having a 'work-limiting' disability had lower rates of economic activity and employment. In all cases women were less likely than men to be economically active.

Table 4.23 Economic activity of working age people by sex according to different definitions of disability, 2006

Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter
1 Long-term disabled people answered yes to 'Do you have any health problems or disabilities that you expect will last for more than a year?'
2 DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) current disabled people are people who have a long-term disability which substantially limits their day-to-day activities.
3 Work-limiting disabled people are people who have a long-term disability which affects the kind or amount of paid work they might do.
* estimate is below reliability threshold

As Table 4.24 below indicates, analysis of the 2001 census demonstrated that there were significant differences between the economic activity rates of people with limiting long term illness and people without. A third of men with limiting long term illness were economically active, and only 28% of women, compared to 89% of men and 78% of women without a limiting long term illness. The proportion of people with limiting long term illness in employment was similarly low, and the proportions unemployed were high, at 16% for men and 10% for women. Of those in employment, overall a higher proportion of people with limiting long term illness worked part-time than people without.

Table 4.24 Economic activity by sex and Limiting Long Term Illness (percentages)

Source: 2001 Census. Scottish Executive (2005) Disability and Employment in Scotland: a Review of the Evidence Base.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20511/49760

4.16 Employment tribunals

It has been noted above that there are gendered patterns of participation in the labour market, and also that there are persisting inequalities which disadvantage women associated with these different patterns, in particular with respect to access to certain types of occupation, to senior positions and to higher levels of pay (see Chapter Five on Income and Wealth for discussion of earnings). Among other factors, discrimination plays a part. Such discrimination may not always be overt and conscious, but that discrimination on the grounds of sex continues to occur in the labour market is evidenced by the numbers and types of cases taken to industrial tribunals. In 2005/06, there were 14,250 claims made under the Sex Discrimination Act and 17,268 claims made under the Equal Pay Act in Great Britain (Employment Tribunals Service, 2006). It is not known, however, what proportion of these claims were made in Scotland, since there are no separate data are available for Scotland.

4.17 Summary

This chapter has examined statistical evidence of patterns of men's and women's participation in the labour market. This evidence indicates that over time the gap between men's and women's rates of participation has narrowed considerably and that women now make up half of the labour force in Scotland. Despite such convergence in participation rates, there remain significant differences between women and men in patterns of labour market participation, in particular in the following respects: average working hours, and in particular mothers' and fathers' working hours; use of flexible forms of working; industrial distribution; occupational distribution; and patterns of self-employment. It has also been noted that minority ethnic groups and disabled people have lower rates of employment generally, and that this is true for women in particular, though there are variations between minority ethnic groups and disabled people, according to type of disability and/or impairment.

The trends in patterns of labour market participation observable in Scotland are similar to these observable for the UK as a whole (see Dench et al, 2002; Aston et al, 2004). As elsewhere in the UK, there has been a period of significant change in the labour market in recent decades, with women being particularly affected by this, as employment opportunities have opened up to them. The factors that have contributed to this change are complex, and include legislative change, economic change and industrial restructuring and changes in social attitudes. The decrease in the gap between economic activity rates of women and men reflects on the one hand the increase in women's labour market participation, especially women with dependent children, and on the other the trend towards early retirement for men, and increased participation in further and higher education. Changes in industrial structure have also contributed, with the shift from manufacturing to service industries, the former previously providing jobs primarily for men, while the latter have typically employed a large proportion of women. Women's increased participation in higher education has also opened up employment opportunities for them, especially in the professions. The expansion of childcare provision and growth of forms of flexible working have also facilitated women's participation in the labour force, and have contributed to the reduction of periods of time spent out of the labour market for child bearing and child rearing.

Though the trends outlined above represent a significant change towards more equal participation in the labour market by women and men, there are a number of aspects of patterns of labour market participation that are regarded as presenting barriers to full gender equality in the labour market and in the distribution of the economic rewards of such participation. In particular, the fact that many women work part-time in low paid unskilled jobs, and the extent of occupational segregation in the labour market, are regarded as significant barriers. With respect to part-time work, there appears to be no specific research on this topic conducted in Scotland, but research elsewhere in the UK has led to controversy over the interpretation of data on the preference for part-time work often expressed by women. Catherine Hakim (Hakim, 1996), for example, has argued that patterns of women's employment reflect women's choices and their primary identification as mothers or as workers. However, critics of this position have argued that women may express a preference for part-time work because their childcare and domestic arrangements leave them no option, or they may perceive themselves to have no option (see, for example, Bardasi and Gornick 2000; Burchell et al, 1997; Fagan, 2001). Furthermore since men's earnings tend to be higher than women's, when it comes to making decisions about who should take career breaks or reduce hours for childcare purposes, there is an economic rationale for men working full-time, and women taking time out of paid work for childcare. This does not necessarily mean it reflects women's aspirations. Nor does the long hours culture which affects many men necessarily reflect their aspirations. In these circumstances then choice may be seen as constrained rather than free.

With respect to occupational segregation, the Equal Opportunities Commission recently conducted a general formal investigation into this, including research specifically commissioned in Scotland (Thomson et al, 2005). This found that the segregation of men and women into specific occupations, together with the concentration of women in low paid and low status occupations, were major factors contributing to the gender pay gap in Scotland. The existence of gender stereotyping about which jobs were appropriate for men and women was found to influence children's views from an early age, and to have an impact on subject choice at school and subsequent career choice. To challenge such gender stereotyping, a national strategy was recommended to ensure that economic development and skills strategies would incorporate a consistent approach to tackling gender segregation.

Even within areas where the same educational and training routes have been taken by women and men inequalities may persist. For example, research commissioned by the EOC which analysed GB data demonstrated that a graduate gender pay gap opened up very quickly, even before women had entered the period of family formation (see Purcell, 2002). This finding is consistent with data on the gender balance in the professions in Scotland for the late 1990s (Kay, 2000), which found evidence of persisting inequalities. This was despite the fact that the gender balance of graduates in certain areas had changed to favour women, and that they were the majority of entrants to professions such as medicine and the legal profession. In other areas academic subject choice still reflected gendered patterns resulting in the continued dominance of men in professions such as engineering, surveying and architecture.

The issue of the low rate of business start-ups has been a concern for economic development in Scotland for some time, and it has been recognised that the rate of business start-ups of female owned and male owned businesses differs significantly. For this reason the Scottish Executive via Scottish Enterprise has undertaken initiatives to increase the numbers of women entrepreneurs. While there has been an increase in the proportion of business start-ups by women in Scotland, these tend to be smaller, with a high proportion being sole traders (Scottish Enterprise, 2005). Research evidence has suggested that this is a reflection partly of preferences of women themselves, who may prefer greater autonomy and flexibility, which enables them to combine paid work and caring responsibilities, but also partly of the limited support, financial and otherwise, available to them. This in turn is a consequence of the fact that more support is targeted towards businesses which expand to employ more people. Such sole trading businesses often tend to be in typically gendered areas such as child minding, hair dressing, or other personal services, and may not attract high financial rewards. Women's business start-ups on average involve less than a third of the amount of capital than men's. This may be because there are lower entry costs for the types of businesses women tend to set up, and because women have access to fewer financial resources. It may also be because they are more wary of accumulating debt. It is also the case that more women than men become self-employed as a way of combining paid work with caring responsibilities.

While patterns of women's participation in the labour market have been the subject of extensive investigation at UK and/or GB level, specifically Scottish research in this field is very sparse. As this chapter indicates, however, there are existing datasets that would permit much more detailed analyses to be undertaken of gendered patterns of participation in the labour market and of changes over time. Such analyses could be used to provide more detailed information as to gender inequalities within specific sectors, industries, and occupations, and could also be used to build up profiles of local economies and gendered patterns of participation in local labour markets. Both types of analyses are relevant to key public bodies with respect to any economic development functions they may have and as employers, and are therefore relevant to compliance with the Gender Equality Duty.

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