Author: Andre Coleman

Rhodes in the article “Speaking of sex: The denial of gender equality” asserts that gender has been used as the basis of all in equalities towards females. She explains the originality of gender differences and how they affect work force. The roles and characteristics associated to males and females vary according to culture and time. Biology is however not highly associated with the determination of female and male identities because societies are different in terms of the traits and tasks associated with each sex. Biologists believe that feminine and masculine traits are physiological in nature and it is therefore the duty of the society to transform these false ideologies which bring about social disadvantages to the society. The 1995 ABC TV documentary shows that many Americans perceive biology as the main vehicle in the creation of masculine and feminine characteristics. Sex-based inequalities are founded on reproductive capacity, hormonal drives, brain structure and physical strength and size. The creditability of biology in the definition of masculinity and femininity is highly questioned since well adjusted people have dual sexual characteristics.

According to Rhodes (23), most of the sex based inequalities is highly based on the sex based differences in reproductive physiology. The sociobiologists have explained that gender roles are biological because in the early years pregnant and breastfeeding women, used to depend on their husbands for food and other amenities while the husbands were the hunters. Anthropologists have however refuted this claim. They argue that men were not the only major providers and child rearing roles where carried out by all sexes. Rhodes says that hormones should not be accounted for the lack of aggression in females. This is because most of the aggression varies according to cultures. For example rape is not allowed in most societies and it should therefore not be an aggression driven by hormones. Most females were not assigned some highly physical roles for example like in the military for they were said to be weak. Rhode concludes that our culture concludes the social differences between both sexes.

According to Cotter, Hermsen and Vanneman (1) in the article “Gender equality at work”, work roles (men’s and women’s) are changing with the changing cultural, economic, social and technological changes during the last half of the twentieth century. They mainly explain how the labor force participates, the kind of segregations and how they come about and also how the issue of earnings is prevailing in the work force. They have also explained the major causes of the gender inequalities in the workforce and they include attitudes, education, politics, economic structure and families (37). The gender inequality in the labor market is seen to be very persistence. This is characterized by low earnings for women workers who compared to men and discriminatory promotions. This is despite the rising number of women in the labor force. But again it seems like the trends are changing because the difference between the workingmen and women seems to be narrowing.

Scholars have noted occupational segregation whereby only a small percentage of female can work in the male occupation while a higher percentage of working men always occupy more than 75 percent of female jobs. Integration is perceived to be the only solution to the narrowing of this gap. Occupational segregation is perceived in terms of age, cohort, race, ethnicity, class, and education. There is noticeable integration of men’s and women’s work although substantial amounts of segregation are still persistent. Females earn less even though the men’s earnings are also changing due to the changing ratio of the work force. It is however reported that women have had increased earnings. Amid these incredible changes, traces of gender inequality are still evident today. Men are more active than women in the labor force (Cotter, Hermsen and Vanneman 52). Again, inequitable earnings even for the same kind of jobs with women getting less than men clearly reflect. According to Male (2), men have a higher probability of accessing paid employment, better jobs and pay compared to women. Apparently, gender equality in the workplace is still a mirage in today’s work environment.

Works cited

Cotter, David, Hermsen, Joan and Vanneman, Reeve. Gender Inequality at Work Force, 2004. Retrieved from http://www.bsos.umd.edu/socy/vanneman/papers/Cotter_etal.pdf

Male, f. Women in the Workplace: factors affecting the European situation and envisaged policy options. Retrieved from http://www.qec-eran.org/qec/publications/Women%20in%20the%20workplace.doc.

Rhode, Deborah. Speaking of sex: The denial of gender inequality, 1997. Retrieved from http://crl.ucsd.edu/HDP1/LectureNotes/rhode.pdf

Over the past ten years, the profession of nursing has seen an increase to the number of male nurses (Cite). Despite this fact, men still comprise the minority within the nursing profession both in Canada and the United States, in fact, nursing remains one of the most female-dominated occupations. To most individuals, this seems an appropriate if not a natural occurrence as women are more “naturally suited” to the profession (Cite). Many factors contribute to this bias however, a review of the history of this phenomenon has shown that the first nurses were actually men as opposed to women (Cite). Ironically, women have made enormous strides into previously male-dominated professions, while the movement of men in nursing has been quite the opposite (MacPhail, 1996). Ideas of appropriate behavior according to gender vary among cultures and eras largely due to what society deems appropriate. In the recent past we have seen this concept adapt to the changing needs of our communities through the support of the movement of women into male-dominated professions. While this remains a laudable achievement, virtually no support has been given to men to break into professions dominated by women, such as nursing (Cite).

Theoretical Perspectives

Historically, nursing is considered a single-sex occupation, identified as a role that is inherently natural to the female gender. Thus, it has become identified as a profession deeply embedded in the gender-based power relations of society. Nursing is an occupation established by women; it supports the stereotypical “feminine” image with traits of nurturing, caring, and gentleness in contrast to masculine characteristics of strength, aggression, and dominance (Evans, 2002). For this reason, occupations requiring these qualities have been considered exclusively suited to women, and labeled “women’s work.”

However, the art and science of nursing has not always been a predominantly female profession (Evans, 2004). Men have played a dominant role in organized nursing dating back to 330 A.D. in the Byzantine Empire. During this era, hospitals were one of the major institutions where nursing emerged as a separate occupation, primarily for men. Moreover, military, religious, and lay orders of men known as nurses have a long history of caring for the sick and injured during the Crusades in the llth century (MacPhail, 1996). In the United States, men served as nurses during the Civil War. John Simon, the lesser-known rival of Florence Nightingale, was the founder of an experimental field hospital in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). Male nurses were hired to staff the hospital, and mortality rates among the troops were kept abnormally low (Evans, 2004). Unfortunately, men were not accepted readily in nursing schools for many years. Interestingly, in 1888, Darius Odgen Mills established the first male nursing school in America, based at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. This school of nursing provided education and training for nurses to care for psychiatric patients. However, it appears that this men’s contribution to nursing has been forgotten. This nonrecognition has likewise perpetuated the feminine image of nursing in society and the perception of the male nurse as an anomaly

Generally, nursing as we know it today came to be regarded as a woman’s profession through the efforts initiated and developed by Florence Nightingale during the 19th century. She saw nursing as suitable for women because it was an extension of their domestic role. It was assumed that it was natural for women to become nurses because of their innate caregiving and healing traits; nursing was not a place for men. At that time, more and more women entered the profession of nursing. Nightingale’s image of the nurse as subordinate, nurturing, domestic, humble, and self-sacrificing, as well as not too educated, became prevalent in society. The ostracization of men in nursing was established.

Factors Contributing to Gender Inequality in the Nursing Profession

According to several authors, one major barrier that may deter men from entering the profession is nursing’s traditional image. Nursing’s image perpetuates cultural understandings and societal attitudes about occupations appropriate for men and women. As such, nursing remains stereotyped as a female occupation. After all, gender-role socialization patterns in society provide examples of ways in which boys and girls are exposed to different role models and different me sages about what is appropriate to each gender. Society has presented men with strong stereotypical boundaries concerning masculine or feminine behavior. Men who choose nursing as a career risk challenging traditional gender-defined roles and stereotypes (Evans, 2002; Nelson & Belcher, 2006).

These stereotypes-enhanced by social, political, and economic systems-often lead to discrimination for men choosing careers outside their gender. Males appear to encounter more negative criticism from the public on entering female-identified occupations. For example, they are “held suspect” and penalized for role violation. Furthermore, these traditionally female jobs are perceived by society as a step down in status (Williams, 1992). Accordingly, these beliefs deter men from pursuing nontraditional careers.

It is troublesome for some to accept the image of men as caring, compassionate, and gentle. Men wanting to enter the female-identified occupation challenge society’s stereotypical image of nursing. Some scholars have argued that caring and nurturing traits are not exclusive to women.

These traits, however, are not inherent in the biological and social nature of the sexes, but are cultural constructs reinforced by the social activities associated with being male or female. Evans (2004) maintains that gender and politics have influenced how the responsibility for caring activities has been settled exclusively on women. Actually, this appropriation has influenced how the division of labor is postulated along gender lines, meaning that occupations are socially or culturally defined through constructions of gender.

Thus, because one’s identity is linked to the sex/gender system in society, it is difficult to rethink the concept of masculinity. As such, men in or aspiring to female-dominated professions are evaluated less positively by society than their female colleagues in male-dominated occupations (Williams, 1992). These views restrict career choice and sustain societal stereotypes, inhibiting men from entering the nursing profession.

Nursing Images

The traditional image of the nurse has been supported through the use of symbols such as the angel, battle-ax, sex symbol, or doctor’s handmaiden, and, most notably, nurses as women. These images, based on female attributes and values, have been used by interpersonal and mass communication, reinforcing the stereotypes of nurses as women. These behaviors and attitudes are further strengthened by the exclusion of men in any recruitment and promotional materials depicting the profession of nursing.

Evans (2004) argues for a shift away from the womanly traits associated with the “old” Nightingale image of the nurse, the basis for the feminine stereotype of nursing that is still evident today. When the nurse is a man, societal images of the caregiver role are not associated with the gender. For example, Williams (1995) conducted in-depth interviews with 32 men employed in nursing. One nurse reported that a teacher at a day-care center told his daughter that her father could not be a nurse, and insisted that he must be a doctor. Thus, nursing has been socially constructed as an occupation requiring gender traits that are associated with “feminine,” regardless of the sex of its individual members.

In a study of 126 male high school students using a career questionnaire, Barkley and Kohler (1992) investigated opinions about nursing. The teenagers surveyed held a positive view of men in nursing. Seventy-three percent rejected the idea that only women should be nurses, and 77% thought that male nurses are not wimps. Evans (2002) surveyed 25 male nurses to investigate the perceptions of being a male nurse. The most prevalent negative factor identified was sex stereotyping resulting from the general perception that nursing is a female profession. According to Kleinman (2004), language and images are dominant forces, which may have the effect of marginalizing any group. Subsequently, for centuries men in nursing have been excluded from the language and image of nursing, therefore from its history. As such, he believes nursing practice has been sexualized. It could be argued that the label of nursing as women’s work is a significant deterrent that inhibits recruitment of men into the profession and aids promotion of the sex imbalance in the nursing workforce. Because of their gender, male nurses have been prohibited from working in specific clinical areas, such as maternal/infant child care. These beliefs have been supported by court decisions; however, there are no restrictions on the practice of female nurses with male patients. These attitudes tend to succor sexism in the profession, affecting the recruitment of men.

Williams (1992) claims that cultural barriers are more pronounced in the media’s representation of men’s occupations. She contends that women in traditionally male professions have achieved acceptance on popular television programs. Today, women are portrayed as doctors, lawyers, and architects, but where are the male nurses, teachers, and secretaries? These beliefs are reinforced by language used in nursing. Women in nursing are simply nurses, not “female nurses”; however, men in nursing are frequently identified as “male nurses.” These images, perceptions, and language influence societal views of the nurse. This, too, leads to the marginalization of men nurses and fortification of negative stereotypes.

Kleinman (2004) stated that the work belongs to neither sex. By excluding males, such messages constitute a critical barrier to men considering nursing as a career. This fact is reflected in the invisibility of men in the profession. This is demonstrated in the example of a 1997 photo feature called ‘Nurses at the Bedside” in the American Journal of Nursing. Of the 15 pictures of the nurse caring and working with clients, none shows a man. This assessment substantiates the invisibility of men’s contributions and visibility in the profession. Moreover, such findings nourish society’s stereotypical image of nursing as a feminine occupation, negatively affecting recruitment of men into the profession. According to Evans (2002), “The hope for change lies in challenging and transforming hegemonic notions of masculinity and femininity” (p. 230).

Sex-Related Stereotypes

Another commonly held stereotype concerning men who choose nursing as a career is that they are effeminate or gay (Williams, 1995). According to Williams, it is assumed by society that in order to be a nurse, female attributes such as a capacity to serve, empathize, and nurture are required. Hence, men who nurse must be “feminine” and are regarded as gay. Although there are a number of gay men in the profession, this stereotype forms a major obstacle to many heterosexual men who might otherwise consider pursuing a career in nursing (Nelson & Belcher, 2006; Trossman, 2003).

Williams (1992) also suggests that the stigma associated with homosexuality leads some men to enhance or magnify their “masculine” qualities. Using focus groups, Williams (1995) investigated the experience of being a male student nurse. All participants reported that nursing is viewed as a women’s profession, and several stated a fear of being perceived as unmanly by their peers or by clients. These beliefs fostered among the men a view that the profession is a threat to their masculinity. Subsequently, these men felt a need to show their wedding ring or to mention their wife and children in order to acknowledge their heterosexuality. In addition, the labeling of male nurses as effeminate or homosexual can be interpreted as a social control mechanism that redefines nursing as woman’s work. This signifies that male nurses are different from other men. Consequently, as a result of these attitudes and perceptions, one can understand why nursing remains an occupation low on career choice for males.

Economic Factors

Another factor suggested as contributing to men’s underrepresentation in nursing is the low economic status, pay, and value given to nursing in comparison to male occupations (Kleinman, 2004). Overall, social and economic inducements for women to enter male-dominated professions are lacking for men who may contemplate careers in female-dominated areas. Moreover, he believes that current cutbacks in healthcare funding may deter some men who might otherwise have considered a nursing career.

Historically, nursing is considered to be a natural extension of a woman’s role in society. As a result of this notion, it is considered a low-value occupation (Williams, 1992). It is well known that the average income of men is well above that of women. Accordingly, these findings support the view that jobs customarily held by women are devalued. Williams (1995) argues that the economic value of other major disciplines and that of nurses reinforces the limited value attached to the role of the nurse. Consequently, the separation, isolation, and labeling of certain roles as women’s or men’s roles in both traditional and modern society reflect the patriarchal social structure.

Barkley and Kohler (1992) administered a career questionnaire to 126 male high school students, grades 9 to 12. Findings indicated that most rejected nursing as a future career because of their beliefs about nurs& economic status. Sixty-two percent of the subjects surveyed did not think that nurses made high salaries, and 46% believed that nurses do not get paid well. These researchers concluded that in order for nursing to compete financially with other male-dominated professions, salary discrepancies need to be changed. In spite of changes in nursing education today, in practice, social attitudes valuing men’s work over women’s work are still apparent (Kleinman, 2004). Traditionally, the female role has a lower value in society, thus the importance of a nurses value is not reflected by economic rewards. These resilient attitudes have been reinforced through gender socialization, leading to less status and power for nurses within society.

In a similar study, using in-depth interviews, Williams (1992) examined the barriers to men’s entry into three female-dominated professions: social work, nursing, and teaching. Participants felt they were all underpaid relative to comparable “male” occupations. Moreover, several of the respondents suggested that instituting a comparable-worth policy might attract more men to these professions. Even so, nursing is still recognized as a female profession, and, in general, women’s roles in society continue to be less valued as reflected in social status and financial compensation.

Strategies to Promote Equality

How would nursing look today if it had remained a male-dominated profession? Would nursing enjoy greater prestige, power and status than it receives today? How would nursing practice and education differ? Would there have been a revolution in the profession as more and more females entered nursing, as they have in other traditionally male-dominated professions?

Strategies to Recruit More Men to the Profession Currently, the realities of healthcare cutbacks have had a negative impact on the nursing profession. As a result, nursing education programs are attracting fewer students. Admission levels are now lower than they have been in decades (Trossman, 2003). These facts may provide an opportunity to recruit an available source of male applicants into the profession. Such recruitment efforts may lead to increasing support and enrollment of men in the profession. Undertaking these endeavors might help eliminate the societal barriers and perceptions of nursing as a sex-typed occupation.

Presently, several people in Canada and the United States are predicting that a nursing shortage is looming. Both countries could face a registered nursing shortage by the year 2011. Since the profession is still largely female dominated, it is recruiting almost exclusively from one half of the population. Likewise, because of falling birthrates, aging workforce, and shrinking recruitment pools, the nursing pool is not renewing itself at a sufficient rate. Furthermore, enrollment in baccalaureate programs has been declining for several years. It is suggested that this may be due to students’ reluctance to enroll because of hospital right-sizing and healthcare cutbacks.

Meanwhile, many women are not considering nursing as a career, opting to pursue nontraditional careers. Other professions such as medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy have seen a steady growth in gender equality; nursing has not been so fortunate. The tendency to consider nursing as a single-sex occupation has to end.

Active recruitment of young males in high schools and colleges may be a new means of addressing nursing shortages. They provide an untapped pool of nursing school applicants (Trossman, 2003). Because nurses enter a profession, which naturally maintains and reflects society’s sex stereotypes, it is important that strategies attack both the myths and barriers (Kleinman, 2004). Accordingly, general acceptance of nursing as a viable career for men requires input and promotion by nurse educators, administrators, professionals associations, unions, and government.

Marketing nursing to men requires a concentrated effort by all interested stakeholders to break down the socially constructed, stereotypical myths and barriers to help change the perception of nursing as a sex-typed occupation. Thus, nursing schools, professional associations, and governments must reach out to the schools in the community. Here they have an excellent opportunity to educate all students about nursing as a career choice. One endeavor to correct the public image is the development and promotion of career education materials that promote sex equity. This information can be supplied to children and adolescents in schools, providing them an opportunity to acquire a realistic understanding of the nursing profession.

School counsellors influence career choice; however, information provided by counselors to students about nursing is limited and often inaccurate. Research has found that counselors experience misconceptions about nursing (Barkley & Kohler, 1992). Thus, they are not likely to advise academically capable male and female students to pursue a career in nursing. For this reason, a re-education of high school counselors about the nursing profession is important in aiding recruitment of future nurses of both genders. Nursing associations could target school counselors individually, give presentations, and emphasize the positive aspects of the profession for both male and female students. Such attempts will produce a population of wellinformed high school counselors to aid recruitment of future nurses (Nelson & Belcher, 2006).

Studies have shown that nursing schools have shunned men by paying little attention to targeting and retaining men as a source of nursing school applicants (MacPhail, 1996). Consequently, campaigns to recruit male high school and college students into nursing programs must become a priority. Schools of nursing should employ higher numbers of male nursing faculty to be role models for male nursing students.

Nurses and nursing organizations must wage an effective public media campaign to correct the image and the public’s perception of the nurse. Furthermore, hospitals, nursing schools, and other health agencies need to portray men in the role of nurse in their publicity materials. Recruitment, promotional advertisement posters, and brochures should not portray only the female image of the nurse.

Another endeavor is the monitoring of the media for sexist images of the nurse, eliminating sexist language from nursing journals, texts, nursing conferences, and other personal communications (MacPhail, 1996; Kleinman, 2004). Elimination of sexist language and images of nurses might help change the deeply entrenched societal stereotypes about nursing.

Recruiters should emphasize the positive aspects of nursing in all media communications to the public. Most important, involving male nursing students in recruitment efforts and making them visible in recruitment materials and publications may increase men’s representation in the profession. However, the active recruitment of men into nursing should not be viewed as a panacea. Other recruiting strategies would be to encourage professional journals and other literature to portray men nurses in their advertising. Finally, an improvement of pay scales might help make nursing a more attractive occupation for both genders. This would involve the cooperation of nurses, government, and nursing unions through collective bargaining.

Although the literature has identified a long history of men in nursing, their contribution has not been recognized. Nursing is still seen as a role that is inherently natural to females. Many factors have deterred men from entering the profession, and one of the main barriers keeping them away is the well–entrenched societal stereotypes associated with nursing. Even though women and men are socialized differently, both genders have the caring and nurturing characteristics required for nursing. Societal attitudes have aligned these traits exclusively to the female gender. With the changes currently taking place in the healthcare system, nursing needs to recruit the best candidates, regardless of gender, who have the potential to develop their knowledge and skill in caring for individuals. To attract and retain more men will require a concentrated effort not only for those within nursing, but by other stakeholders as well. Nursing must be the forerunner in breaking and correcting the barriers that impede the entry of men into the profession. As these barriers are broken, career options and choices in nontraditional careers may increase for both sexes (Trossman, 2003).

Conclusion

Altogether one might believe that nursing is one of the most important jobs in the medical field based on the reputable history it has, its diversity, and its growing demand. One might also believe that nursing is a very important job due to the fact that people will always need health care. No matter whether it is female or male nursing is more than just caring for the sick, it is not only giving care to the patient but also caring about the patient and his or her well-being.

Mauritius is a remote small open island economy. In geological time, it is a very young island, which emerged from waves of volcanic eruptions in the Indian Ocean over the last eight million years. A high degree of concentration and interpenetration of finance, agro industrial and merchant characterizes the economic structure of the country. The structure of formal employment consists of deep gender imbalance against women.

The Economic and Social Indicators (ESI) on gender statistics represents women and men in the Republic of Mauritius. In 2011, Mauritius ranked 63rd out of 146 countries compared to 2008 it was ranked 46th out of 138 countries according to the Gender Inequality Index of the UN. The index reflects inequality in achievements between women and men in reproductive health, empowerment and labour market.

Before 1950’s it has been found that women were in fewer number than men in Mauritius. However, the female population has been growing rapidly such that in the 50’s there were almost equal numbers of men and women. As from 1990, women have been increasingly outnumbering men over the years. The sex ratio in the population, declined from 100.2 in 1972 to 97.3 in 2010 and it is expected to decrease further to reach 95.8 in 2050.

In 2011, it has been found that a lesser proportion of women than men of working age (16 years and above) were active, that is, in employment or looking for work. The economic activity rate for women was 43.7% against 75.5% for men. The active population stood at 582,800 with 363,600 men and 219,200 women compared to 2010, women was 43% compared to 76% for men, the active population stood at 581,300 with 362,400 men and 218,900 women.Men and women have a similar pattern of economic activity during their life that is less active at the younger and older age groups. The activity rates for both are highest in the age group 30 to 45 years.

Chart 13 – Activity rate (%) by age group and sex, 2011

Some 191,800 women held a job in 2011 and accounted for 35.7% of the Mauritian employed population. Working women were more qualified than their male counterparts, with 22% holding a tertiary qualification against 17% for men. There were an almost equal proportion of working men and women having a School Certificate but 7.4% women had a Higher School Certificate compared to 5% for men.

Chart 14 – Distribution of employed person by sector and sex, 2011

Both men and women had a high proportion of their working population in the tertiary sector (covering trade, hotels & restaurants, transport and other service industries), 68% for men and 57% for women. The secondary sector (covering manufacturing, electricity & water and construction) accounted for one third of the working men and one quarter of the working women. While women represented some 40% of the employment in the manufacturing sector, they comprised less than 1% of the construction industry.

Women were more likely than men to be employees, with 85% of the employed female in that employment status compared to 78% among the men. They were also much less likely than men to head their own business; while 21% of working men were employers or own accounts workers, only some 11% of women held that status.

On average an employed woman works 38 hours, 6 hours less than a man. However, women heading their own business and those contributing in the family business worked respectively 7.5 hours and 8.2 hours less than their male counterparts.

Both women and men worked fewer hours in the agricultural sector than in other sectors of the economy. However, women worked 10 hours less than men in that sector. Women worked 8 hours less in public administration, 5 hours less in hotels & restaurants and 3 hours less in manufacturing, trade & education sectors.

Women as well as men tend to work fewer hours at the older age. The difference in hours worked by women and men varies across ages; it increases with age to reach a peak of 8.3 hours at the age group 45 to 49 years, and decreases thereafter.

In spite of being fewer in the labour force, women are over represented among the unemployed. Unemployed women numbered 27,300 in 2011 compared to 18,800 men. Female unemployment rate stood at 12.5%, much higher than the rate of 5.2% for male.

Chart 16 – Unemployment rate (%) by age group and sex, 2011

Unemployment rate is higher among women than men at all ages, except for the elderly. The difference in unemployment rate is more pronounced at the very young age.Among unemployed women with previous work experience, 22% left their last job due to marriage, childbirth and household responsibilities. Another 13% women were unemployed following closure of establishment. The main sectors where the unemployed women worked previously are manufacturing (29%), trade (25%) and hotels and restaurants (10%).

On balance, there has been a dramatic change in the occupational and sectoral distribution of the labour market since, with the rising share in the manufacturing, and a declining share in agricultural and domestic service. Employer’s preference for women because of their natural and culturally defined attributes, as well as their adaptability, productivity and acceptance of lower wages in the past are some of the reasons accounting for the predominance of female labour mostly in the EPZ sector in Mauritius.

Despite increase in employment over the last couple decades, we can still see that there still exists gender disparity in the labour market. In addition, with increased occupational opportunities enjoyed by women, they are still faced with the burden of household responsibilities for example, as mentioned above, woman works 38 hours, 6 hours less than a man. This show woman career is still constrained with household occupations.

The factors which have promoted labour force are: fertility reduction, increased life expectancy, economic hardships and wider aspirations beyond the confines of family and home. However, the main factors constraining higher participation of female Mauritian in the labour market are resistance by own family members, inability to make arrangement for childcare, housework exigencies, nurturing within the household, reproductive responsibilities and difficulties in managing the interface between home and work.

Therefore, women hit a class ceiling as far as the management in concerned. Such is generally the case despite higher academic achievement than men. This secondary role is also reflected in their working conditions and their position in society and family. While the concept of equity and equality should be established in the world of work, women have to be provided with wide opportunities and can be further encouraged to develop their aptitude and potential optimally.

Globalization in Mauritius can also be considered as a threat for widening the gap between men and women in the labour market and further creating gender inequalities. Trade expansion has increased women’s access to labour market, however, it worth pointing out that the vast majority of these jobs are low salary and low-skilled. In the light of existing gender inequalities, a widening gap between men and women in terms of access to economic resources and benefits to be derived from globalization can be foreseen.

Mauritian Law protecting against discrimination in workplace

The Constitution of Mauritius is regarded as being the supreme Law which clearly protects this philosophy of equality at Chapter 2 Section (3) and (16) which imparts for non discrimination as follows:

Section 3

”It is hereby recognized and declared that Mauritius there have existed and shall continue to exist without discrimination by reason of race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedom of others and for the public interest each and all of the following human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

Section 16

Protection from discrimination

Subject to subsections (4), (5) and (7)-no law shall make any provision that discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.

Subject to subsections (6), (7) and (8)- no person shall be treated in a discriminatory manner by any person acting in the performance of any public function conferred by any law or otherwise in the performance of the functions of any public office or any public authority.

The Government of Mauritius has also passed law to eliminate all forms of Gender Discrimination and sexual harassment in certain areas of public activity under Sex Discrimination Act No. 43 of 2002. This act protects a worker from all forms of inequality in employment related to recruitment, selection, training, on grounds of gender, marital status and family responsibilities.

Gap in literature

It has thus been seen that gender inequalities is apparent in all societies and many research has been done with the aim of improving the condition of people at work. In Mauritius, however, gender inequality is relatively a concept which is ignored despite many laws exist to eliminate any sort of discrimination. The measures undertaken by the government still remain at initial stage. There exists little research concentrating in the field of gender inequalities in the workplace of Mauritius. The gap in the literature is little because it has focused on only one dimension of gender inequalities. In Mauritius, however, the concept of gender inequalities in the labour market is buried. As a matter of fact, research is urgently required to determine the all the factors leading to occupational gender segregation and also find ways to improve the conditions of employees at work.

Sex is what distinguishes men and women biologically, namely it describes the physical qualities which derive from variations in chromosomes, hormones and genitalia. Gender refers to a set of culturally defined characteristics which determine society’s view of people as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. Sociologists have long debated over the causes of unfair sexual divisions of labour. Some have forwarded biological explanations, whereas others hold responsible the socialisation of gender roles. In this essay I will look at how the nineteenth century socialisation of gender roles is believed to have affected women’s position in the labour market. I will then consider the increasing feminisation of the labour market and seek to explain the persistent inequalities between men and women.

However, since the mid-twentieth century there has been an increasing feminisation of the workforce. According to Ulrich Beck, women are ‘setting the pace for change’ (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 647). In Beck’s view, we are moving into ‘the second modernity’ (as against post modernity). He argues that in our society, characterised by risk and uncertainty, women have realised the importance of self-reliance and have sought to widen their participation in the labour market and as a result have changed the social discourse. This has been made possible by a number of factors. The increased possibilities of an education, the development of domestic appliances, the growing tendency for smaller families, the Feminist Movement of the 1970s, the steady expansion of the service industry, the increase in living costs and the consequent need for two incomes are all factors which have generated a shift in traditional family patterns and significantly changed the gender division of labour. A UK Labour Force survey conducted in 2005 suggests that the rates of employment for women of working age have risen to 70% in 2004 compared to 56% in 1971. In contrast, employment rates for men have declined from 92% to 79% (Giddens, 2006, 755).

Despite women’s increased participation in the labour market, barriers to equality remain. Although 75% of women of working age are in employment in the UK, it has been shown that in high-earning, high-status professions they are severely under-represented (www.employment-studies.co.uk). 2005 demonstrated, in terms of vertical segregation, that 83% of chief executives, 71% of sales managers and 70% of management consultants were men, whilst 96% of dinner ladies, 95% of receptionists and 76% of cleaners were women (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 124). Different reasons are held responsible for such disproportion. One argument is that jobs are highly gendered, with a tendency for high-status, high-paid jobs to be male-dominated because they have traditionally been perceived as ‘masculine’. Radical feminist Sylvia Walby claims women are subjugated by patriarchal values that discriminate and confine them to specific areas of work (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 113).

Not only are women under-represented at the highest levels of the occupational structure, they have likewise not achieved equality of pay, despite liberal feminist’s success in campaigning for equal pay legislation. The wage gap was once thought to be narrowing, however, new figures suggest that the pay divide is still a matter of concern today. According to the Office for National Statistics, the pay gap between men and women in full-time work has increased to 17.1% since 2007 (The Guardian,15/11/08). The median full-time gross weekly earnings per week for men in 2007 were ?498, whilst for women they stood at ?395. In 2008 they stand at ?521 for men and ?412 for women. It has been calculated that over a lifetime, women working full-time will earn an average of ?369.000 less than their male colleagues. This result, according to the annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, places Britain 81st in the world ranking in terms of equal pay for men and women in similar jobs (The Guardian,15/11/08).

Part of the reason would appear to be because of horizontal segregation. Much of the female workforce is clustered into a range of semi-skilled, low-status and poorly paid occupations. Across the occupational structure, men predominate in such lines of work as manufacturing, construction, IT and business industries. Conversely, women are overwhelmingly represented in health and social work, teaching, catering and cleaning (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 123). Feminists, therefore, see this as a reflection of the ‘two spheres’ ideology. 2005 demonstrated, in terms of horizontal segregation, that 79% of social workers and 73% of teachers were women. In the same year, 90% of the construction industry and 76% of people working in transport were men (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 123). In addition, the fact that many women work in the part-time sector can be part of the reason for the poor levels of pay they are subject to.

Occupational segregation has been used to explain such high concentration of women in part-time work. Despite the disadvantages it involves, part-time work seems to remain a popular choice for women. In 2004, 5.2 million women in the UK were in part-time employment, compared to 1.2 million men (Giddens, 2006, 757). Social forces such as limited childcare assistance and gender discrimination have also been held responsible for such large numbers of women in part-time work. Many women seeking full-time employment often face unjust hurdles which men do not encounter: a Fawcett Society study (the leading liberal feminist organisation) reveals that 52% of employers consider the chances of a new member of staff becoming pregnant before employing them (www.fawcettsociety.org.uk). However, whilst it is possible that this may discourage many women who intend to have children from looking for full-time work, this is not on its own sufficient reason to explain such a heavy influx in the part-time sector.

Catherine Hakim’s ‘preference theory’ suggests that women’s position in the labour market depends entirely on the rational choices they make (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 125). Hakim identifies two types of women: those who commit themselves to full-time careers or those who prioritise their domestic responsibilities. According to Hakim, many women have different work orientations than men, leading them to choose part-time occupations which enable them to balance their domestic and professional lives. Rosemary Crompton and Fiona Harris agree that women’s position in the labour market is influenced by their decisions. They argue, however, that the choices women make are not always rational, but are the results of the practical challenges and cultural norms they may face. Crompton and Harris believe that women often start a career committed to the idea of full-time employment and the family sphere in equal measure, but in later life might have to compromise one or the other for a variety of reasons. There is, therefore, an important debate between feminists.

Additional theories have been advocated by sociologists to explain women’s continued limitations in the job-market. Talcott Parsons’ functionalist ‘human capital theory’ suggests that women’s natural role is that of childcare. The theory implies that women are likely not to commit to a career or gaining qualifications, preferring to dedicate themselves to their children (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 125). According to Parsons, this lack of commitment or skills renders women less valuable to the employer, and is ultimately the reason for women’s disadvantaged position in the labour market. However, critics of the theory point out that it does not account for the large number of women who dedicate themselves to a career and still end up in lower-paid, lower-status jobs (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 125).

Barron and Norris’s ‘dual labour market theory’ promotes the idea of two labour markets: a primary sector in which professionals and skilled workers belong, characterised by highly paid and secure jobs, and a secondary sector, consisting in lowly paid, less secure jobs mainly occupied by unskilled labourers. According to Barron and Norris, women are more likely than men to work in this sector because they are less interested in wages or status, a view which echoes that of Hakim. Transition from the secondary to the primary sector is rare, ending in confinement within a range of low-paid jobs for one’s entire working life. The theory is criticised by feminists for not being able to explain why skilled women often earn less than men in similar work, or why they get promoted less often than men in the same job (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 126).

In the past century, women have made a revolutionary ascent in the labour market even if many work in the part-time sector. However, the rate of improvement seems to have stalled rather than grown. Despite legislation such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), vast inequalities remain in Britain, especially in terms of pay and status. It might well be that more radical reforms need to be made. In Norway, for example, hundreds of women have benefitted from a new act, passed in 2003, which stipulates that companies must increase the number of women on their boards to 44.%. This now means that Norway heads the league table for gender equality, 12 places above the UK (The Guardian, 17/11/08). This suggests that post-feminists are mistaken in believing there is no more for feminists to do. A third wave of feminism, as suggested by Katherine Rake, or ‘new feminism’, to use Natasha Walter’s term, may be precisely what is needed.

Gender differences in labour market outcomes affect whether women enter the marketplace, care for children, or partake in other labour activities. In the developing world, gender differences in political access and wages can have large effects on the well-being of females and their families. Discuss gender differences that exist in the developing world, why they are important, and what role they play in shaping outcomes of females and children. Are there policy prescriptions that would increase societal welfare?

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introductionaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦3

On Gender differences and well-beingaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦…4

Gender Discrimination, Property Rights and Investment in Agricultureaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦..6

Impact of Reservations in India on Policy Decisionsaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦.8

Prevalence of adverse sex ratio aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦.11

Where are all the “Missing Women” aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦….12

Conclusionaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦…..17

Referencesaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦..aˆ¦19

INTRODUCTION:

For centuries, women have played the role of a homemaker, caring for her children. While men were the breadwinners of the family. This stereotypical image of men and women, though less profound is still to be found in many parts of the world. This is especially true of the developing countries. Biologically, women and men are different, beyond the obvious. Their brains function differently. Hormonal differences make them behave in different ways. However, the “sexist” attitude towards gender differences has been forced not only by the government, but also by almost all the institutions of public life.

In the developing world, we frequently find that women are discriminated against by men. In many countries, a girl-child is considered to be a burden, and may not receive the same care that a boy would. A woman is often forbidden to work outside the house as the society frowns upon such activities. And also women continually receive lower wages than men for the same work.

In the past decade, the governments of many countries have put into place many policies to help empower women. Some policies have been successful, while others have not done much to reduce this gender gap. Various studies have been conducted to see whether the policies were actually implemented, and if yes, what impact they had on women’s welfare.

Many studies have been conducted to measure the impact of these biases against women, on the welfare of their families, on their well-being, and their status in society.

On Gender differences & Well-being

One such study by Esther Duflo (2000) measures the impact of a cash transfer, specifically old age pension, on the nutritional status of a child, depending on the gender of the recipient.

Policies targeted towards improving women’s position relative to men’s are desired not only for equity basis, but also for the effects they may have on children’s welfare. Being malnourished can affect a child’s physical and mental health. Hence, receiving adequate nutrition at a young age is important for economic growth, distribution, and welfare. Thomas (1990, 1994) found evidence that income or assets in the hands of women are associated with larger improvements in child health, and larger expenditure shares on household nutrients, health and housing (Duflo, 2000; pg.1). Her paper investigates whether redistributing resources from men to women would increase investment in children.

With the end of the apartheid the benefits and coverage of the South African social pension program was expanded in the early 1990’s to include the black population. The program was successfully implemented with almost a universal coverage. This led to a permanent exogenous change in income, after household formation. Most families are extended households, and over a quarter of African children under the age of five live with a pension recipient. The paper takes into account the weight for height, and height for age of children below the age of five to see whether the pension recipients’ gender has any effect on these indicators.

The South African social pension was started in 1928, but it was only after 1993 that the same amount was paid to all racial groups. Women over 60 years, and men over 65 years are eligible for pension, subject to a means test. During the Apartheid era, the system was racially discriminatory in many respects. Firstly, different means tests were applied to each race. For Blacks benefits were withdrawn for incomes larger than R700, while for Whites the limit was at R2250. Secondly, benefits for Whites were 10 times higher than those for Blacks. Thirdly, Whites received pensions through postal offices, while Blacks had to collect their pension through mobile pay points that didn’t cover much area. Finally, officials often intentionally took people off the list, or limited access of legally eligible Blacks to save the cost of pensions.

The weight for height of children reflects short run nutrition and illnesses and recovers quickly once proper nutrition is resumed. The nutrition in turn is determined by individual preferences, non-labour income, the weights given to members of the household, and child specific variables. Before controlling for the presence of non-eligible members over 50, the coefficient for girls is positive but insignificant. However, when the controls are introduced it improves the weight for height of girls by 1.19 standard deviations, if pension is received by a woman. For boys, the coefficient is positive, but insignificant. However, a pension received by a man has a small, negative and insignificant effect on girls’ weight for height. Also it seems that there exists an all female link, as the pension seems to be most effective if received by the mothers’ mother. Some problems which may bias upward the estimates of the effect of pension on weight for height are discussed and are as follows; Firstly, being a three generation would mean that the household is relatively healthy. Secondly, the pension program might have led to a change in the composition of the household. For this Duflo examines the height for age of young children, as this reflects nutrition status over the life of the child.

Height for age is different from weight for height, in the sense that it depends on accumulated investments over the life of the child. Nutrition at a very early age has long lasting consequences on child height. And the possibility of catch-up skeletal growth after an episode of low growth in infancy is limited (Duflo, 2000; pg.13). Her basic idea is to compare the differences between height of children in eligible and non-eligible households and between children exposed to the program for a fraction of their lives and children exposed all their lives. Results show that pensions received by women led to an increase of 1.16 standard deviations in the height of girls, and had a much smaller effect on boys. While pensions received by men didn’t have any impact on the height of either girls or boys.

Duflo concludes that the nutritional status of a girl improves significantly if the pension receiver is a woman, and has an insignificant negative effect if the pension receiver is a man. She tests for these by measuring the weight for height, and height for age of children between 6 to 60 months of age. Also this result rejects the unitary model of the household and suggests that pensions received to women may increase efficiency more than pensions received by men.

Gender Discrimination, Property Rights and Investment in Agriculture

It is often the quality of the economic institutions of a society that determine its economic growth. This is especially true of property rights, as investment incentives depend upon expectations of rights over returns to that investment. Goldstein and Udry (2004) conduct a study in Akwapim, Ghana and examine the connection between property rights and agricultural investment, and in turn to agricultural productivity. In much of Africa the Western notions of private property doesn’t exist. Most of the land cultivated by farmers is controlled by the local leaders. It is allocated to individuals, and families based on their perceived need and political influence.

In many African societies, agricultural production is managed by individuals or households. Soil fertility primarily depends on an individuals’ decision regarding the span of the fallow period, i.e. when the land is left uncultivated to regain fertility. Rights over a plot can be lost while it is fallow, and induces shortening of the fallow period. There also exist opportunity costs and transition costs associated with fallowing.

They select four village clusters, and within each cluster they select 60 married couples. They measure productivity via returns to cassava/maize cultivation on similar plots of men and women within a household in a given year. Conditioning on plot characteristics and household fixed effects, they find women produce much less cassava/maize than their husbands. Hence, earn lower profits. They also find that education and age are not responsible for this difference in productivity. They do however find that duration of the last fallow period is strongly positively related to current profits. Gender of the cultivator has no effects on profits, once they condition for the duration of the last fallow.

Tenure security seems to be closely related to fallow decisions. Due to the complex and flexible property rights women often rely on allocated household land, given by their husbands. Men are more active on the land market. A primary reason for uncertainty of tenure, especially for women, is that leaving the land fallow might weaken future rights over the plot. Leaving the land fallow, might signal a lack of sufficient need by the village heads. A second model is based on the idea that tenure security varies with the political position and method of acquisition of land.

Their results reflect that tenure security depends highly on the individuals’ position in the political and social hierarchy. But even conditioning on the individuals position, it depends on the circumstances through which she obtained the particular plot. The complex and overlapping rights to land act as barriers to investment in land fertility. The difference in profits within a household, from similar plots can be attributed to the fact that women are generally not in a position of power. They tend to leave land fallow for a shorter duration, to maintain their rights over the plot.

Impact of Reservations in India on Policy Decisions

In a paper by Chattopadhyay & Duflo (2004) they study the impact of political reservations on women’s leadership and policy decisions. They show that reservation of seats for women impact the investment decisions on public goods and are biased towards the gender of the Pradhan.

In 1993 an amendment to the constitution of India made it mandatory for all village councils (GP’s) to reserve one-third of all positions of chief (Pradhan) to women. The paper focuses on two districts, Birbhum in West Bengal, and Udaipur in Rajastan, and compares investments made in reserved and unreserved GP’s. The major responsibilities of the GP are to administer local infrastructure, and identify targeted welfare recipients. The main source of funding is the state, and the money is allocated through four broad schemes: the Jwahar Rozgar Yojana for infrastructure, a small drinking water scheme, funds for welfare programs, and a grant for GP functioning. The GP has full flexibility in allocation of these funds.

The Panchayat is required to setup two meetings per year in which all voters may participate. Additionally, the Pradhan must setup regular office hours, where villagers can lodge complaints.

In both Rajastan, and West Bengal the policy was strictly implemented. And women elected once due to the reservation system were not re-elected. A rationale for reservations for women is that, the cost of running for office is higher for a woman than for a man. These high costs can prevent women from participating in the political process in the absence of reservations. So the two candidates must have an equal chance of winning. The outcome will then be symmetric around the median voter. Also, when women run because of the reservation, this can increase women’s utility and the median voter’s utility.

Some limitations of this model are: Firstly, when the Pradhan is a woman it might be easier for women to influence policy process ex-post, moving policy in a pro-woman direction. Secondly, after reservation, relatively weak women with strong pro-women views will be as likely to run as strong women with more moderate preferences. Thirdly, the model ignores the possibility of strategic behaviour on the part of the elected official, which would exist in case of future elections.

Chattopadhyay & Duflo (2004) use the data on formal requests and complaints that are brought to the Pradhan. Since complaining is costly (time consuming), the complaints reasonably measure preferences of individuals. Women are more likely to have a higher cost of complaining given the social norms that limit their mobility, and conditions under which they can speak to a man. Hence, women’s complaints will be more biased towards extreme preferences. In the model, allocations are made closer to women’s needs in reserved GP’s because of the selection of women candidates and possibly due to the reduced cost of speaking to a women, and not because women are more responsive to complaints of women.

Authors find that in West Bengal, drinking water and roads were the issues most frequently raised by women. Next were welfare programs, followed by housing and electricity. Issues of roads, irrigation, drinking water and education were raised by men. In Rajasthan, drinking water, roads, and welfare programs were the issues most frequently raised by women. This pattern reflects the activities of both men and women in these areas. Women are in charge of collecting drinking water, and benefit from the welfare programs. In West Bengal, they work on roads. In Rajasthan, both men and women work on roads, and so have a common motive. But, men travel frequently in search of jobs and so have a stronger need for good roads. In both Rajasthan and West Bengal the gender of the Pradhan affects the provision of public goods. Individual women are not particularly more responsive to the needs of women and men in their communities. Rather it is because their own preferences are more aligned to the preferences of women that they end up serving them better. These results are unaffected when controlled for the Pradhans characteristics ( like education, experience, social status etc). This suggests that the allocation of public goods can be largely attributed to the gender of the Pradhan, rather than on its other effects.

Prevalence of adverse sex ratio

The aim of the paper by Khanna et al (2003) is to determine whether the skewed sex ratio in India can be explained by less favourable treatment of girls in infancy. They measure deaths from all causes in infants aged less than one year, in a community health project undertaken in urban India.

According to the 2001 census in India, the sex ratio was at 933 females per 1000 males. Ordinarily, females outnumber males, possibly because the extra X chromosome makes them less susceptible to infectious diseases. However, the skewed sex ratio in India suggests the existence of sex discrimination. Despite the banning of sex determination tests, the practise of female infanticide has continued. Even after birth, mortality remains higher in females, and girls are more than 30%-50% more likely to die between their 1st and 5th birthdays. Various studies have shown that compared to boys, girls are often brought to health centres at a more advanced stage of illness, are taken to less qualified doctors, and have less money spent on them.

The basis of their study is the record of deaths maintained by midwives working in St. Stephens Hospital in Delhi. The hospital caters mostly to the poor, who have an average per capita income of Rs. 600 per month. The combined population of the area is about 64000 people.

The results find a significant difference in mortality between girls and boys for diarrhoea and unexplained deaths. But there was no significant difference between deaths from less preventable and less treatable diseases. For diarrhoea, the mortality for girls was twice that of boys. In the case of unexplained deaths, the parents weren’t able to give a satisfactory explanation for the cause of death. Most deaths were of females in this group, and were thrice as much as those in boys. Although the cause of these deaths is unexplained, improvement in access of health care, and education of health professionals to pay more attention to girls could be beneficial.

Where are all the “Missing Women”

In her paper “Gender equality in Development” Ester Duflo (2005) addresses the interrelationship between economic development and gender empowerment – particularly in the spheres of education, health, employment opportunities and political power. Empowerment can accelerate development. It is estimated that there are between 60 to 100 million “missing women” in developing countries. The term “missing women” was coined by Amartya Sen to describe the observation that the proportion of women is lower than what would be expected, if women in the developing countries were not discriminated against.

Economic development leads to a reduction in poverty, by relaxing the constraints faced by poor households. This suggests that economic growth, by increase opportunity and alleviating poverty, can lead to more equity between women and men.

Studies find that women are most likely to be discriminated against when ill or when the household faces a crisis, such as food scarcity. Here, an improvement in health services, or free medical insurance for the poor would disproportionately help the women. Also increasing the ability of poor households when they face a crisis would improve the condition of women more. Hence, economic development reduces poverty. It insures the poorest against sickness and hunger. Thus, economic development, though reducing the vulnerability of the poor, helps women disproportionately.

Similarly, the increase in opportunities in the labour market has led to change in households, moving it towards greater gender equality. Earlier, it was perceived that since women don’t work outside the house, they don’t need to as strong and health, and don’t require formal education. Many parents believed that girls don’t need formal education as they’re expected to only marry and take care of the house. The rise in employment opportunities for women has led to favourable outcomes for women in terms of equity.

Duflo finds evidence that economic development isn’t enough to improve the condition of women. The skewed sex ratio favouring boys has persisted and even worsened in China, despite rapid economic growth and reforms. This illustrates the fact that economic growth, and availability of technology, can have perverse effects on gender equality, if it reduces the cost of discrimination against girls.

Another aspect is the disparity in earnings at all levels of qualification. There is a widespread “implicit” bias, shared by both men and women, associating men with career and sciences, and women with family and liberal arts. And this “stereotype” has persisted despite increased women participation in these disciplines. This bias reduces rewards for women participation in the labour market, or for higher education, by persuading them that they aren’t as good as men. As long as these biases exist, gender equality will not be achieved.

Similarly, while various factors hinder the representation of women in politics, one of the strongest barriers to greater participation of women in politics is the notion that women are not competent leaders. This bias is most pronounced when the leadership role is typically considered a male role. And although many studies confirm that women are better policymakers, and are less corrupt, it seems there’s a significant cultural barrier to recognizing women as competent policymakers.

Evidence such as those above, support the idea of “reservations” or quotas for women in policymaking positions, as perceptions are biased and women’s achievements aren’t recognised by the electorate. To achieve a balanced gender representation in politics it seems that policy action need to be taken.

Yet, the gains from policies targeted towards women, come at an expense for men. This is evident in politics. The reservation of seats for women means that a man doesn’t get the seat. The gains are less explicit in the measures taken to improve access of girls to schools, through say, scholarships, or proper bathrooms in schools. These are expensive, and in developing countries these transfers to girls come, at the direct expense of boys. This transfer spent on scholarships could have alternatively been used to hire more teachers, which would’ve benefited both boys and girls.

Thus, policies which favour women need to be justified, not only to bring about gender equality, but also their desirability taking in account their costs. In the second part of the paper, the author (Duflo, 2005; p.10) examines the justification that the trade-off between various people in the short run is transitory; in the long run there is no trade-off between helping women more and helping everyone, because increasing the share of resources going to women will increase the amount of resources so much that everyone will be better off.

The basic arguments that support active policies to support women are; Firstly, women are currently worse-off than men, and this inequality is offensive in itself. Secondly, women play a fundamental role in development. The gender gap in education, politics, and employment should therefore be reduced not only for equity, but also to increase efficiency.

The argument that empowerment raises efficiency has shaped economic policies the world over. Micro-credit schemes, welfare programs, transfers conditioned on school enrolment, reservations in politics have all been directed towards women.

The argument for efficiency proposes that sending girls to school, or improving their employment opportunities is good because the development outcome is higher for a given increase in the education and earnings of women than from an equal increase in the education and earnings of men.

Although substantial studies find a correlation between a woman’s’ education and earnings with child welfare, she (Duflo, 2005; p.11) points out that there are two fundamental problems with interpretation of these results. Firstly, a woman’s education, earnings, and political participation may be correlated with unobserved dimensions of her ability, family, and community background. Secondly, the comparison between the coefficient of husbands’ and wives’ education or earnings might be obscured by a correlation between wives’ education or earnings and unobserved characteristics of husbands.

To get around these problems, researchers analysed specific circumstances that changed the distribution of power, education, or earnings between husbands and wives and had nothing to do with their individual choices.

Duflo concludes that women’s empowerment and economic development are closely interrelated. While development brings about women empowerment, empowering women changes decision making, which directly impacts development. She suggests that in order to bring about gender equality, it might be necessary to continue taking policy actions that favour women at the expense of men for a very long time. And while this might bring about some benefits, the costs associated with such redistribution might not always be sufficient to compensate for the distortions.

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded from the above literature that in the developing world, gender differences exist, and discriminate against women. All spheres of a woman’s life, from the time she is in the womb to the time she dies, are affected by this bias against women. The study conducted in South Africa (Duflo, 2000) finds that a non-contributory cash transfer to an eligible female pensioner actually significantly increases a girls’ welfare, measure by weight for height, and height for age. And that given to a male pensioner has a small insignificant negative effect on girls’ welfare. Similarly when it comes to property rights, women have almost no power and have to depend on their husbands to secure land for them to cultivate (Goldstein & Udry, 2004). In Ghana, property rights are complex, flexible and overlapping. There is no notion of private property. Women also have almost no security of tenure as they are not in a position of power in the political or social hierarchy. This leads to a shorter fallow duration, which means lower productivity and hence, lower profits than their male counterparts working a similar plot. This leads to inefficiency and lower economic growth. In the political sphere, women are under-represented, which has adverse impacts on women’s utility (Chattopadhyay & Duflo, 2004). Reservations however have changed the picture, but is not due to women being more responsive to women’s needs, but rather depends on the gender of the leader. The study concludes that the reserved GP’s invest more in public goods important for women than the un-reserved GP’s. This helps to improve women’s utility, even if indirectly. Another aspect is the skewed sex ratio observed in India, and many other developing countries. This is due to the perception that girls are a burden on their parents (Khanna et. al. 2003). This can be blamed on the lack of access for women to health, education, politics, employments, and biased societal norms.

Finally, it can be conclude that policies that benefit women such as reservations in politics, scholarships for girls etc. are necessary, even if they come at the expense of men. Not only because they lead to efficiency gains and economic development, but also because the discrimination between men and women is not acceptable in itself. The stereotypical image of women has continued, despite the fact that more and more women have forayed into supposedly male dominated areas and excelled. This discrimination is present not only in the developing world, but also in the developed countries, like USA where the wage-gap between men and women exists till today.

Even though they make up half the population, women and girls have endured discrimination in most societies for thousands of years. In the past, women were treated as property of their husbands or fathers – they couldn’t own land, they couldn’t vote or go to school, and were subject to beatings and abuse and could do nothing about it. Over the last hundred years, much progress has been made to gain equal rights for women around the world, but many still live without the rights to which all people are entitled. — Robert Alan

In society today there are many inequalities, gender being the lead. There is gender inequality in popular culture, workplaces, sports, politics and religion. For this essay I have chosen inequality in religion.

Religion has been around for thousands of years, when religion first started our world was different. We didn’t have the technology we do today and men were regarded higher than women. Women weren’t allowed to work or go anywhere. Today even though women get more respect than they did before there is still inequality. Men still have authority over women and female children even though there might be laws instated to stop the inequality or could it be the culture of the country that has confused religion and culture. Sometimes the laws of a country rule against the laws of religion, which is followed; religion or politics?

Mainly in the Middle East and North Africa, human rights for women are denied, despite the diverse laws in place. I have found a website which informs us about the 10 extreme examples of gender inequality.

Please note that I do not intend to disrespect any religion in what I say, it is my own personal opinion.
Number 10: Forbidden from driving

In Saudi Arabia women are forbidden to drive. Men are not allowed to drive a lady unless she is close to him i.e. a relative or spouse. Women can’t drive because then they have to unveil their eyes and that is forbidden, a lady can’t leave the house often, if she drives she will leave more often and if they out it will mean more interaction with men they do not know. Another issue is how to get thousands of school girls to their schools if men cannot drive girls they do not know, no exceptions are accepted. Women basically have to live in their house, they cannot explore the world unless a male relative is watching their every move.

Number 9: Clothing Requirements:

Women are beautiful and have a right to wear what they want; they should be allowed to wear what they want WITHOUT being labelled however some women feel secure.

In some places women obligated to wear a head to toe garment, covering all their clothes, called a Burqa. The garments are so thick that you must not be able to see through it. If they don’t wear these garments they are either stoned, abused or acid is thrown on them.

Some women however may feel more secure wearing these as their chance of being raped and sexually abused in lowered.

Number 8: Right to Divorce

Men have every right to divorce his wife with very few questions asked. A wife can not divorce her husband unless she has an eyewitness to the abuse; often the abuse happens in front of another man who is not going to be on the lady’s side. It is often very easy for a man to divorce his wife but for the wife it is close to impossible. In some countries like Egypt a lady can divorce her husband if she can pay back her dowry.

Number 7: Right to Education

In Saudi Arabia it is believed that women are only supposed to be educated to carry out a proper female Muslim life. A group of women teach young girls certain aspects of the Qur’an and how to carry out their life once married; how they are supposed to act as a housewife, mother and a wife. Not many women go to this education (picture above), why, perhaps the male members in their family may not see it necessary.

Because of how limited their education is some women want to be educated more but some agree that they are only meant be educated that much and so they agree with it.

Number 6: Right to Travel:

In Iraq, Libya, Jordan, Morocco, Oman and Yemen, husbands must give their wife’s written permission to leave the country. In Saudi Arabia, women cannot travel unless they have written permission from a male relative. Women also have identity cards these cards are under their father’s or husbands cards. On the identification cards there is a picture of an unveiled lady and many Arabian women disagree with a picture like that.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/images/2008/02/20/pakistan.jpg

Number 5: Victims of Violence

In some countries there are no laws instated against any type of abuse against and there is no protection for the female victim. Women are abused by fathers, brothers, husbands and any random man. In some countries if a man rapes a woman all charges are dropped if HE agrees to marry the lady. Women are abused because they have put a “shame” on their family. Migrant female works are most vulnerable for sexual abuse by not only the husband of the house but the teenage or adult sons too.

Number 4: Custody Rights

In Bahrain, family law is not codified; judges have complete power to deny women custody of their children for the most arbitrary reasons. Women who have been courageous to fit were sued by 11 family court judges. With consideration to parental authority as, legally, children belong to their father. If divorced or widowed, a woman is normally granted custody of daughters until they reach the age of nine and sons until they the age of seven. Older children are often awarded to the divorced husband or the paternal grandparents.

Number 3: Citizenship

Women who marry men who aren’t citizens of a country cannot get citizenship themselves. In order for a lady to get citizenship for a country she has to marry a male citizen otherwise it is impossible for her. There is no reason for a lady to apply for citizenship elsewhere especially if she married and has children because she is fulfilling her duty. Women cannot grant citizenship to their children if born to a non-national father.

Number 2: Sexual Subjugation

Unmarried pregnant women are mainly at risk for prosecution. Women are only for making babies and satisfying a man’s sexual desires. Women don’t have a say in anything, if a girl is a virgin and if she is raped it is her fault because she is a virgin, men find it frustrating if girls are virgins. As time has gone by in some countries men see themselves are more powerful than women. Women HAVE to wear Burqa but how do you explain the picture to the right? This shows that if a lady is pleasing male pleasures it IS okay to “break” the rules.

Picture: http://stickeenotes.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/burqa_sexy_1.jpg

Number 1: Female Infanticide

There are many countries that follow this. In china it IS LEAGL to abort, starve, abandon, neglect and infanticide a female child. In many religions male children are more worthy than females because they carry the family name and are the ones who continue the family business where as women get married and they are the husband’s responsibility. It often happens in rural areas as families need their sons to work and women aren’t allowed that right. In the US it is immoral and manslaughter to commit an infanticide but it is still committed.

There is gender inequality in Religion but could the condition the people live under affect their intentions. A poverty stricken country will often have more inequalities compared to a wealthy country. This is because the people are not educated about the modern day; it’s our duty to do so.

In this essay I would like to demonstrate that achieving a greater equality in terms of reconciliation of professional and family life requires policies that not only introduce changes in labour market patterns, but also within the private sphere of family. This is to say, the reconceptualisation of women’s and men’s roles cannot be achieved without the political will descending from above and common social agreement emanating from below. Further along the essay, I am going to complement the theoretical arguments with some practical examples from the European context in order to discuss to what extent family policies enhance or diminish equality between men and women.

Demographic changes – towards new family patterns

One of numerous attributes of the post-industrial era could be defined in terms of feminist claims for gender equality. Indeed, women demands have been part of policy arena in most post-industrial countries. As individuals, women firstly demanded the detachment from their traditional roles of housewives. Later on, due to demographic changes such as low fertility, women’s issues became one of the top priorities on political agenda. This time, however, women reclaimed their rights not only as workers, but also as mothers. This political turn shouldn’t be regarded as nostalgia for the male bread-winner model. In effect, tough conditions of labour market and economic hardship put women under pressure in terms of making a trade-off between having a family and pursuing a professional career. Subsequently, since a large proportion of women opted for stability – employment rather than precariousness – providing free care, the fertility rate has started dropping rapidly. Since the society’s reproduction buttresses future state’s economy, it remains highly questionable if national policies, originally purported to tackle gender inequality, are not more likely to be driven by political preoccupation of deleterious consequences of low fertility on productivity, profitability and competitivity of a country. The fact that until today most of the political effort to eradicate gender equality concentrated on labour market adjustments rather than finding real answers in the core of the problem in family patterns confirms the hypothesis of governments’ hypocrisy.

From the theoretical perspective

Although welfare regimes have been more or less successful in equalizing men and women in the labour market, the fact that women still perform the bulk of domestic work gives evidence about the ineffectiveness of these policies in terms of gender equity. In the theoretical field, scholars’ positions towards the relationship between family and gender have been rather convergent.

According to Daly and Lewis (2000) the relationship between family and state has used to be defined in terms of level of contribution of individual to the labour market. Taking this criterion as a universal measure of human?s contribution, the non-remunerated care giving activities would be therefore omitted since their social value would be considered as negligible. Although this definition would probably more likely correspond to the definition traditional society of industrial era, residues do persist in Western countries persist in form of assigning women to the private sphere of family, while stressing the duties of men as the bread-winners and therefore, the only actors in the public sphere. In tandem with the disproportional relationship between men and women, Lewis (2002:332), for instance, highlights the unequal relationship between women and labour market. She contends that women are only taken into account when working, whereas women that stay at home and care for children have not being recognized as legitimate enough to the contribution to the society. This is to say that despite the fact that female participation on the labour market increased steadily during the last twenty years, no considerable change has been achieved at the household level, where the majority of domestic tasks, including cleaning and child rearing activities, continues to be performed by women (Lewis, 2002).

On a similar note, Fraser(1994) tries to define the post-industrial welfare regimes through two models. The ‘universal caregiver model’ (1994:593) assumes men and women as autonomous individuals and aims to attain the gender equity through the guarantee of equal opportunities and equal treatment in the labour market. The other one – ‘Caregiver parity model’ (1994:593) – aims to reach gender equity through the support of informal care and generous caregiver allowances. However, because both models are in some aspect discriminating, they fail to alter the gendered conditions of employment and reproduction and therefore, to respond to women’s demands. Fraser thus deems that gender equity can only be achieved through the dismantlement of ‘gender opposition between breadwinning and caregiving’ (Fraser, 1994:611). In other words, ‘the key to achieving gender equity in a postindustrial welfare state is to make women’s current patterns the norm’ (Ibid.). Fraser’s universal caregiver approach considers childcare responsibilities as the alpha omega of persistent gender inequalities of current welfare systems.

Peter McDonald (2002) suggests that in societies where women are treated as autonomous individuals in education and labour market, but as inferior beings in other social male – dominated institutions, they are more likely to opt to not to have children. This argument would reinforce his hypothesis that low fertility rate in industrialized countries is most probably due to a persistent gender inequalities since the women willingness to have children didn’t change. Surveys such as those conducted my McDonald and Fraser place the issues of childcare at the centre of recent policy making interest.

For the reasons discussed above, challenges Western societies are facing since the last two decades – specifically the low birth rate, longevity risk and ageing population problem – have become more pronounced and have force the policy- making authorities to introduce changes not only in the public sphere, but also in the private sphere. In the second part of my essay, I am going to provide some empirical support from Netherlands and Sweden which tried to tackle the low fertility with gender neutral policies premised on reconciliation of family and work lives.

Reconciliation policies in EU

In 1997, the Dutch government launched the ‘Combination Scenario’ programme aimed to promote equal sharing of time between paid and unpaid work among men and women. Since the Dutch culture is based on strong attachment to private and informal care (Platenga et al., 1999), the policy goal was to be achieved through widening employment patterns rather than providing extensive childcare services. Long male and short female working hours were supposed to be equalized through policies such as shorter working week. Nonetheless, whereas public opinion hailed new measures, outcomes of the latter remained far from the initial goal. Part-time contract did not diminish men’s working hours, but moreover, it even pronounced the inequality of labour market since women (and not men) continued to opt for part-time contracts in order to care for their children. Platenga et al. therefore conclude:

‘…an increase in the amount of time spent in the market without any corresponding change in the organization of unpaid work will not only slow down any progress made towards gender equality, but will also have detrimental effects on the quality of our lives.’ (1999:109)

Here again, the failure of Dutch initiative could be a consequence of putting too much emphasis into the promotion of changes in employment patterns rather than in equal distribution of care time. Some authors suggest that such working-time regimes can either promote or diminish gender equality (Rubery et al, 1998 in Platenga et al, 1999). This would depend on to what extent the institutions and political environment are favourable toward these changes. In the Dutch case, despite the public willingness of change, part-time work continued to be considered as a deviation from full-time norm as well as the care work persisted to be understood as women’s responsibility and was therefore, undervalued (Platenga et al., 1999)

Unlike other EU countries, Sweden, for instance, has a long history of active women participation in public sphere. Since 1970 women represented up to 50% of elected representatives at all levels of governance (Hantrais, 2000). The women -friendliness of Nordic welfare systems is supposed to be premised on this active female participation in politics. The Nordic model, also called the dual-breadwinner model is women-friendly in the sense of allowing women to participate in public life and on the same time, allowing the reconciliation of motherhood and paid work. Moreover, in 1974 the maternity leave had been replaced by gender neutral parental leave that hitherto enabled men to actively participate in child rearing (Ibid). Although the generosity of Nordic child subventions can’t be disputed, Scandinavian welfare system can be also discriminating for some women. Shalev (2008) claims that mother friendly state interventions can have detrimental effects for the labour market attainments of high class women by relegating their type of employment to the public sector and subsequently, limiting their access to high managerial positions.

Premised on the idea that childhood determines people’s lifecourse, the post-industrial societies should consider the investment in children as a sine qua non for sustainable development of knowledge economy (Esping-Andersen, 2002). However, due to the cultural differences, the debate about whether support for childcare should be provided through childcare allowances (Netherlands) or whether families should rather benefit from childcare facilities (Sweden) dominates the European agenda. Lewis (2006) contends that increasing attention to children in the political agenda is a result of their future role as adult citizens rather than their role as ‘child qua child’ (Lewis, 2006:43). As a counter-argument , Esping-Andersen concludes that there is no empirical evidence that mother’s work could have detrimental impact on children’s development (Esping-Andersen, 2002). Other authors, however, suggest that key success of equal gender treatment consists in concentrating in private sphere instead of putting too much effort into the public sphere (Lewis 2006, McDonald 2002). In opposition to the Nordic model, where parents benefit from extensive childcare facilities, some authors deem that care provided by parents themselves cannot be substituted by any public service no matter how good it is (Folbre and Nelson, 2000). In addition to this, Etzioni (1993) deems that the transmission of informal values and norms is more likely to happen in private sphere of family. Subsequently, children socialized in childcare facilities would suffer from lack of so-called ‘parental deficit’ (Ibid).

From the theoretical debate it is difficult and inappropriate to make generalizations about what kind of care is more suitable for children. On the other hand, Lewis argues convincingly that evidence shows a shift in parents opinion about time spent with children from being assumed as a duty to as an important part of self-fulfilment (Lewis, 2006). This is also to say that more fathers have begun to consider their involvement in rearing activities. In Sweden, the ‘father’s month’, designed to convince more fathers to take up the parental insurance benefit, was backed up by important political support of so-called ‘fathers group’ that campaigned for men to perform their role as fathers in taking the parental leave (Hantrais, 2000: 170-1).

Successful strategies to tackle gender equality and reconcile work and family life, need to include ‘combined strategies’ (Esping-Andersen, 2002:66) that would guarantee security through income assurance for those who want to take parental leave and also, measures to provide a stable support for mothers’ employment, since unemployed and single mothers face the highest poverty risk (European Commission, 2007).

Monoparental families at the edge of poverty

Despite measures intended to secure access to women into the labour market, solo mothers and lone-parent households continue to be the most vulnerable cohort in term of facing the risk of poverty and unemployment. By the same means, exclusion and poverty in lone-parents household is more likely to become a long-term phenomenon, since children’s development depends on parental and social investment and is very likely to be reproduced (Esping-Andersen, 2002). Following the Report enacted by European Commission, women constitute almost totality of lone parents with an exception of United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland and Germany, where the percentage of young fathers under age 35 varies from 17% (United Kingdom ) up to 25% (in Denmark) (EC, 2007:3). The singleness of lone mothers makes their position in society extremely vulnerable: unlike other forms of family, solo mothers face the double pressure to combine child care and breadwinner responsibilities on the same time.

Although some critique could be raised towards Scandinavian welfare systems, Nordic countries occupy the top positions of international rankings and this is unconditionally of the type of conducted survey. However, the application of this model to the rest of European countries would require deep structural changes, especially in terms of more generous budget. Ergo, in the European continental context of scarce budget resources, lone mothers that opt for childcare benefits instead of paid employment, condemn themselves to be more vulnerable to poverty. The key issue to avoid this scenario stems from securing enough flexibility of labour market, so that lone mothers can combine the pleasure of motherhood with a decent employment.

Conclusion

In this essay I tried to demonstrate that increased individualization which considers men and women as autonomous individuals freed from their family and gender responsibilities does not suffice to guarantee equal conditions for every individual. Subsequently, women become more vulnerable and risk either exclusion from welfare either pressure from labour market. From the theoretical perspective, most of the authors agree that assuring reliable security net requires adjustments of social and working structures to the family, and not to the market. For example, one of the positive outcomes of the Netherlands’ Combination Scenario had been the application of legal minimum wage to all employees regardless of the amount of working hours (Platenga et al., 1999). This is to say that in order to avoid men’s and women’s occupational segregation, policy-making authorities should guarantee sufficient adjustment of child care allowances and employment policies so both, men and women can equally contribute to paid and unpaid work.

Education is considered to be the most valuable possession for every human being today. Gender inequality is more pronounced in Pakistan. Women are disadvantaged with respect to the outcomes of schooling. My literature review incorporates all the questions regarding sex differences and I have mainly focus on the issues that are central to the questions of gender inequality in educational sector. Research remains focused on secondary information. Literature review consists of 10 articles as follow.

The introduction to this article( the status of women in Pakistan,1988) written by HAQ, attempts to state that women constitute the majority about 52% of the world’s population, yet many societies discriminate them and Pakistan is one of those. The article mainly discuses that women in the rural areas are made to work as long as 14 to 16 hours without payments. Their status is mainly based on local custom rather than QURANIC verses. In a traditional society women occupy really low status. There is a history of female in the subcontinent that women are expected to function within their frame work before marriage they had to obey their fathers and brothers and after marriage their husbands. Most of the women live in the state of withdrawal deprived of their identity and this is because of the lack of education and Pakistani women are denied due to social prestige and economic activity. The variables that are extracted from this article are local custom and lack of awareness. The author define these variables in such a manner that he focuses on reducing gender disparity, should be the priority of the society and this gender disparity can be reduced by eliminating the traditional practices that are held in a society for example women should have equal participation in the decision making and increase women knowledge on family planning as the article states that average number of live birth is 5.8, maternal mortality is very high at an estimated 500 out of 100,000 births. The article discusses the status of women in Pakistan and due to gender discrimination how they are lacking in education. Educated and independent women are more enthusiastic towards life and are capable of understanding modernized changes rather than illiterate under nutritive dependant women .furthermore the article discuses that gender discrimination is mainly because of the traditional customs they are following especially in the villages.

Hypothesis: the status of women in Pakistan should be enhanced or not

This article gender inequality in education written by Nelly P.Stromquist in 1990 focuses on women’s access to education, both in terms of the decrease in the rate of literacy and in years of schooling attained, the article says that there has been improvement over time. Compared to their mothers and grandmothers, women today have more education than ever before. The enrollment of women in primary and secondary school has improved in the last 30 years, and women have registered a slightly greater rate of growth, as women have increased their average years of schooling. Despite all these fact, women still continue to face lower levels of education than men. Women in the third world countries are considered to be feminine and weak in terms of reward and social prestige. The author states that there are still a sizable number of countries that do not collect statistics by sex, particularly at higher levels of education, indicating thereby that they do not consider the improvement of women’s education a priority. The rate or level of women participation in educational sector reveals that it is the women from low-income groups and low status, ethnic affiliation who register the lowest levels of education. Above stated are the variables that were extracted from the article: low income group, low ethnic affiliation, rate of dropping out. The author defines the variables in a way he says that most of the gender disparity which is observed across the societies is a result of class difference that fully explains why the gender disparity exists and persists. Furthermore the article discuses that there have been few studies that specifically distinguish inequalities due to gender from those due to class or race. A study by Rosemberg (1985) showed that the discrimination by income was more pronounced than the discrimination by race. There is a difference in the education of different social classes. The particular article is relevant to the topic in such a way it states that the schooling of daughter is not deemed worthwhile in front of the schooling of a son. And another major reason of women lacking in education is of high dropout rates of girls in primary and secondary schools. And this is mainly because of early marriages. Insufficient places in secondary school, co education cost of education and low quality of education of girls. Many of the studies in this category do not ask why it is that women’s education is considered less important than that of men or why it is that the education of women is so pervasively linked by social norms to their role as wives and mothers. The methodology that was used in the article was viewing different theories about social inequalities in education, are those that are derived from either the functionalist (or consensual) or the conflict (or neo-Marxist) approaches.

Hypothesis: is women education considered less important than men

The article class and gender in education-employment linkage written by Hanna Papanek focuses on the impact of global economic and political changes on low income nations. Poor families that depend entirely on returns to labor in order to survive are most likely to require participation in wage labor (or labor exchange arrangements) by all household members, including men, women, and children. Under these circumstances, educational participation becomes very difficult for both male and female, but because males generally have a wider range of earning opportunities, they are more likely preferred than females to be allowed to attend school. On the other hand at class and income levels where families are less dependent on female wage labor, women’s education is preferred little bit. Family status has a direct bearing on access to economic and political resources that enhances education facility in women. Another factor that is discussed in this article is the family honor and these are the variables extracted from this article INCOME in terms of FAMILY STATUS. The author defines the variables in such a way that differences among classes are signaled by the extent of control over women which is family honor. In some cases girls may not be permitted to attend middle schools located outside the village because it would injure family honor and compromise marriage over it. In other cases, the attainment of secondary or tertiary education may confer so much prestige on the family that the possible status loss associated with daughters living away from home is offset. Marriage chances may also be enhanced when a daughter is sufficiently educated that she can just read and write her name and which can make her earn minimal amount of living. In Egypt as it is a highly stratified society, formal education for both men and women has long been associated with class and status. Higher education, in particular, has played an important role in the “reproduction of the bourgeoisie,” although not always in the predicted fashion. In Egypt, not all illiterate women can be presumed to be from poor families; at least some proportion of this group, especially among older women, comes from families that do not permit women contact with the outside world. The overwhelming majority of illiterate or barely literate women, however, are from poor families. The article is base from a comparative regional study in Asia that is now under way’ and from research in a nearby country (Egypt) that is similar in many respects to the countries included in the regional study. Many of the nations in the ongoing study have large Muslim populations (Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Malaysia) etc. concluding the article female educational participation, especially at higher levels, is a consequence of higher family status rather than a means to upward mobility.

Hypothesis: do females have less access to both schooling and employment than males do.

This article Muslims, markets, and the meaning of a “good” education in Pakistan was written by Mattew J. Nelson in (October, 2006) examines the nature of local educational demands in Pakistan and show that parents favor religious education usually for girls. Girls’ access to education in Pakistan has been restricted. Despite improvements in the last 20 years, underlying factors still make the state education system inefficient and the current male to female literacy ratio is still at 65:40. And this is mainly because people wrongly assume that our religion don’t permit girls for normal education. Girls are usually preferred to go to maddrasas which most of the parents in rural areas think is a better and accessible option and more convenient option for them. Furthermore the article describes the market and the meaning of good education in Pakistan. Families of middle class who can afford primary education of girls still prefer sending their girls to religious schools which cost them very little and prefer their boys to enjoy all the privilege of higher education because they think that it is in our religion that girls are suppose to stay at home. The variable that was identified from this article is religion (Islam). The author defines the variable in such a way that he himself carried a survey and a Questionnaire in which two type of people were questioned one for whom the local madrasa (Islamic religious school) was most important Secondly parents were selected from a variety of economic circumstance. However the outcome was that out of 112 respondents 91 were in the favor of madras for girls. The article is relevant to the topic in a way that it discusses about the

how the choice of religious education for girls is forming a disparity in educational sector of Pakistan. The article mainly discuses the, substantive features of local educational demand and religious demand

Hypothesis: is demand in favor of religious education rather than local

The article Girls Are… Boys Are: Myths, Stereotypes & Gender Differences written by Patricia B. Campbell, Ph.D.Jennifer N. Storo in 2006 mainly discuses, how much the gender counts in education the author of this article states that Sex is not a good predictor of academic skills, interests or even emotional characteristics. The author discusses about the different myths that are related to girls for example biologically girls cannot handle the stress of higher education. Due to these myths parents have lower expectations from girls and they become gender biased and the variable that was extracted from this article was MYTHS AND STEREOTYPES. Now author further more discuses why myths persist based on gender and race. The history of myths will explain how author has defined the variable it is a common belief that men are principal producers and bread earners of the family so they should enjoy all the privileges and this is a primary reason why their education was considered more important than girls. And it was considered that women are property of husband and her only job is to produce children. Furthermore many of the people use to believe and still many of them do is that women reproductive capacity will destroy if her intellect is going to improve. Which in other words mean that women with better education will not listen to men. For example it was concluded that women in their menstrual cycle if uses their brain lose their mammary functions. This particular article is relevant to the topic in such a way as many of these myths are still believed and practiced in Pakistan when it comes to education specifically. This was both quantitive and qualitative form of research in which graphs, charts and theories were used to measure different type of myths

Hypothesis: Is there a biological bias for sex differences

The article The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education on Rural Poverty in Pakistan written by Imran shareef chaudray and Saeed ur rahman in 2009. The main purpose of this article was to identify the gender inequality in education on rural poverty in Pakistan. The article basically discuses that gender inequality in education persists in almost all the poor countries and Pakistan is one of those. Strong gender disparities exist in the rural and urban areas of Pakistan. Pakistan is one of those societies in which women suffer all sort of discriminations. There are countless issues of education in Pakistan including low level of investment, cultural constraints, poverty, gender and regional inequalities in budgetary allocation to education, low enrollment rates due to poor condition of public schools, high population growth producing more illiterates and poor, lack of implementation of educational policies. Violence against women, class discrimination, poverty, lack of educational facilities, and various parallel education systems in government and private education are the major emerging issues which should be dealt with curriculum reforms and effective educational policies. Above mentioned are all the variables extracted from this article but the major variable that I highlighted is POVERTY. Logit regression analysis on primary data was used to reach the conclusion. However it was concluded that poverty has adverse effects on gender disparity in education.

Hypothesis: effect of poverty on education

This article DOCUMENT TO DEBATE AND FINALIZE THE NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY written by JAVED HASAN ALY in December 2006 is intended to stimulate discussion of major policy issues concerning Education Sector in Pakistan. The educational status of women in Pakistan is unacceptably low, in fact, amongst the lowest in the world. Development, only 19% of females have attained education upto Matric, 8% upto Intermediate, 5% Bachelor’s degree and 1.4% achieved a Master’s degree. 60% of the female adult population is illiterate. Of the 3.3 million out of school children, 2.503 million are girls. 73.6% of primary age girls attend school, compared with 92.1% of boys. Although education has been seen to add value to a female worker but in Pakistan for female education is considered as a abuse. Different policies have been recommended to eliminate this gender gap in education but the fund allocation and human resources that were provided by the government to implement the policies. So the variables that were extracted from this article are Low level of financial allocation and inefficient utilization of resources. The author describes the variable in such a way that since 1947 the emphasis on girls education is laid down and many policies and reforms have been made to practice it but due to lack of financial resources Pakistan is still facing gender discrimination in education. The article on whole is relevant to the topic because it is discussing the policies and their effect on educational sector of Pakistan

The particular article THE FUTURE OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN written by Dr. Humala Shaheen Khalid & Dr. Eshya Mujahid-Mukhtar: August 2002 discuses that although most children do get admitted to primary schools, but the major problem is their retention in primary classes. Given the poverty, high opportunity costs of children attending school (as sometimes they are required to contribute to the family’s economic activities or towards daily household chores such as fetching water, fuel or sibling care), parents’ low perception about education, poor quality of education, teacher absenteeism and/or child’s bad health, a very high proportion of students drops out from primary school. Reasons cited for leaving primary school varied between boys and girls. While most boys left school due to “child not willing” Most girls said they had to help at home. During the past decade, several policy initiatives were undertaken, each with a strong component for improving girls’ education in the country. Besides two educational policies, namely, the National Education Policy (1992) and the National Education Policy (1998-2010), the Government of Pakistan launched the Social Action Programmed (SAP) in 1993/94 which focused on improving the social indicators for girls and women. But none of these policies was followed properly so the variable that was extracted from this article was lack of of financial allocation and Lack of encouragement by government and lack of school facilities. The government of Pakistan is lacking way behind in providing educational facilities Great care needs to be exercised while portraying the future of girls’ education in Pakistan. Female education is subjected to the forces of both demand as well as supply barriers such as poverty, lower status of female in society and her security concerns, coupled with lack of school facilities, teaching materials and inadequacy or absence of female teachers. More importantly, there are strong linkages of the education sector with other sectors. The Study is based on secondary sources. National statistical sources have been extensively used which include the Population and Housing Census 1998; the Economic Surveys (various issues) and the reports published by the National (and provincial) Education Management and Information System (NEMIS). The Study also relies heavily on other data sources and relevant research reports issued by the Central Bureau of Education, Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS).

Hypothesis: future of girl’s education in Pakistan

This article ROLE OF WOMEN IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PAKISTAN written by Jehan Qamar in 2000 is about the importance of role of women in economic development. And it contains a lot of information about state of women in education and their employment. This article also lays emphasis on political and cultural instability that is affecting the status of women in Pakistan. And this political and cultural instability are also the variables extracted from the article. Furthermore the article discuses that the implication of cultural norms are affecting the education of women a lot different policies made by the Pakistan’s government were reviewed before writing this article and whether there implication is active or not and how it is affecting the economy. However it was concluded that the role of women in economic development can be enhanced if women provided with proper education

Hypothesis: role of women in economic development of Pakistan

The article DISTANCE EDUCATION AS A STRATEGY FOR ELIMINATING

GENDER DISPARITY IN PAKISTAN written by a?-Dr. Irshad Hussain in 2008. The article discuses about the role of distance education in addressing the issue of gender disparity in Pakistan The study was descriptive in nature and the researchers adopted survey approach. The study was conducted in Punjab province. The study consisted on three populations: (i). B.A level female students, (ii). their parents and (iii). academicians of Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad. Researchers adopted stratified and convenient sampling technique for collecting data from students & their parents and academicians respectively. The samples of the study comprised of 600 students, 60 parents and 60 academicians .The article starts with describing that gender discrimination is one of the major issue in Pakistan at present as we all know that the Pakistani society is male dominated and males enjoy all the privileges where as female population is a very small and neglected community of Pakistan. Unluckily gender gap is wide and demands immediate attention to address the issue. However distance education is one of the solutions and incentives which provide girls an opportunity to study even in culturally restricted areas. It can cater educational needs of the society at the doorstep on equal basis and frees learners from time and place restrictions. Keeping in consideration the above characteristics Allama Iqbal University is offering different programs through distanced approach. As a result admission rate has increased specially in Allama Iqbal University.

Hypothesis: Is distance education effective or not

Occupational gender segregation continued from era to era and is apparent in lands of the globe Grusky and England 2004; Moshe and Frank 1999; Preston 1999; Rosenfeld and Spenner 1992. Anker (1997) distinguished two main explanations for why occupational gender segregation should is a continuing concern: first, it is a major foundation of labor market inflexibility and economic incompetency. Second, it is detrimental to women in the sense that segregation brings about harmful views of both men and women as a result, affecting women’s status, income, education, skills (Anker 1997).

The important outcome related with occupational gender segregation is the segregation of the payment methods and the continual sex discrepancy in earnings with women on the inferior edge. The proportion of the gender wage gap is to 5 to 40 percent attached to workplace segregation is seemingly advanced than the amount by career break 15 percent and equivalent worth wage upgrading 5 percent (Hakim 1992; Preston 1999).

There are two types of segregation: horizontal segregation, which occurs when there is a concentration of women and men in a determined i¬?elds and occupations, and produces disparity in terms of career, pension and vertical segregation, which take place when there is a focus of women and men in determined degrees and levels of responsibility or positions, and produces disparity on salaries.

2.2 An Overview of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries

The issue of gender inequality can be considered as a universal aspect of developing countries. Unlike women in developed countries who are, in relative terms, economically empowered and have a powerful voice that demands an audience and positive action, women in developing countries are generally silent and their voice has been stifled by economic and cultural factors.

Economic and cultural factors, together with institutional factors state the gender-based division of labour, rights, responsibilities, opportunities, and access to and control over resources. Education, literacy, access to media, employment, decision making, among other things, are some of the areas of gender disparity.

One of the areas of disparity between males and females is related to the difference in their employment status which is manifested by occupational segregation, gender-based wage gaps, and women’s unequal representation in informal employment, unpaid work and higher unemployment rates (UNFPA, 2005). As women in developing countries have low status in the community, the activities they perform tend to be valued less; and women’s low status is also perpetuated through the low value placed on their activities (March et al., 1999).

In-depth analysis of DHS by Hindin (2005) showed that only 17% of women in Zimbabwe, 12% in Zambia and 4% in Malawi have higher status job than their partners. The respective percentages of women whose partners have higher status jobs are 52, 43 and 53.

Women are also overrepresented in the informal sector. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 84% of women’s non-agricultural employment is informal compared to 63% of men’s. The figure is found to be 58% and 48% for women and men, respectively in Latin America (UNFPA, 2005). Studies generally show that women are more likely to be engaged in work which is for longer hours than men. For instance, in 18 of the 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, greater than 50% of women were employed and even in six of these countries the percentage of employed women was greater than 75% (Mukuria et al.,2005).

However, as most of the employed women work in agricultural and other activities which are mostly considered to be having limited or no financial returns, their employment does not contribute much to their status in the workplace. Thus, women in those countries are dependent on their partners in most aspects of their life. In spite of its importance in enabling women to get access to information about personal health behaviours and practices, household, and community, the percentage of women exposed to different types of media is limited in most developing countries.

Women’s limited access to education, employment opportunity, and media, attached with cultural factors, reduces their decision making power in the society in general and in a household in particular. Regarding their participation in decision making at national level, though the number of women in national parliaments has been increasing, no country in the world has yet achieved gender parity.

According to the millennium indicators data base of the United Nations, cited in the UNFPA (2005), the percentage of parliamentary seats held by women in 2005 was 16% at world level, 21% in developed countries, and 14% in developing countries. This low representation of women in national parliaments could be due, among others, to type of electoral systems in

different countries, women’s social and economic status, socio-cultural traditions and beliefs about women’s place in the family and society, and women’s double burden of work and family responsibilities (UNFPA, 2005).

Women are underrepresented in the formal sector of employment. The survey conducted by the Central Statistical Authority (CSA, 2004) showed that women account for less than half (43%) of the total employees in the country. Considering the percentage of female employees from the total number of employees by employment type, the highest was in domestic activities (78%) and followed by unpaid activities (59.3%). In other types of formal employment (e.g. government, NGOs, private organizations), the percentage of female workers is less than 35.

On the other hand, the survey showed overrepresentation of female workers in the informal sector. About 58% of working women work in the informal sector whereas the percentage of working men in the informal sector was 37.7 % (ibid).The breakdown of the federal government employees by occupational groups also indicated gender disparity. From federal government employees found in the clerical and fiscal type of jobs 71.3 % were female, while the percentage of females was slightly more than half (51%) in custodial and manual type of jobs.

Women make up 25% and 18% of the administrative and professional and scientific job categories, respectively, indicating that upper and middle level positions are overwhelmingly dominated by men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005). This concentration of women in the informal sector and low level positions has implication on their earnings. In this regard, the survey showed four out of ten women civil servants earn Birr 300 a month compared to two out of ten for men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005).Ethiopian women’s access to mass media is one of the lowest. In their DHS comparative report, Mukuria et al. (2005) show that, among 25 Sub-Saharan African countries,

Describe And Discuss Gender Inequality In Contemporary Society With Reference To The Labour Market.

Sex is what distinguishes men and women biologically, namely it describes the physical qualities which derive from variations in chromosomes, hormones and genitalia. Gender refers to a set of culturally defined characteristics which determine society’s view of people as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. Sociologists have long debated over the causes of unfair sexual divisions of labour. Some have forwarded biological explanations, whereas others hold responsible the socialisation of gender roles. In this essay I will look at how the nineteenth century socialisation of gender roles is believed to have affected women’s position in the labour market. I will then consider the increasing feminisation of the labour market and seek to explain the persistent inequalities between men and women.

Up until the twentieth century, women were largely excluded from the labour market, partly because of the social construction of separate ‘male’ and ‘female’ spheres. Feminist Ann Oakley believes that the modern role of ‘housewife’ emerged in the early stages of industrialisation (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 108). Due to the norms and values of the time, supported by the functionalist Parsons, it was expected of the man to provide for the family, whilst the woman would tend to the home. Oakley claims that this concept of different ‘duties’ has persevered and has since had a negative influence on the development of women’s position within the labour market (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 108).

However, since the mid-twentieth century there has been an increasing feminisation of the workforce. According to Ulrich Beck, women are ‘setting the pace for change’ (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 647). In Beck’s view, we are moving into ‘the second modernity’ (as against post modernity). He argues that in our society, characterised by risk and uncertainty, women have realised the importance of self-reliance and have sought to widen their participation in the labour market and as a result have changed the social discourse. This has been made possible by a number of factors. The increased possibilities of an education, the development of domestic appliances, the growing tendency for smaller families, the Feminist Movement of the 1970s, the steady expansion of the service industry, the increase in living costs and the consequent need for two incomes are all factors which have generated a shift in traditional family patterns and significantly changed the gender division of labour. A UK Labour Force survey conducted in 2005 suggests that the rates of employment for women of working age have risen to 70% in 2004 compared to 56% in 1971. In contrast, employment rates for men have declined from 92% to 79% (Giddens, 2006, 755).

Despite women’s increased participation in the labour market, barriers to equality remain. Although 75% of women of working age are in employment in the UK, it has been shown that in high-earning, high-status professions they are severely under-represented (www.employment-studies.co.uk). 2005 demonstrated, in terms of vertical segregation, that 83% of chief executives, 71% of sales managers and 70% of management consultants were men, whilst 96% of dinner ladies, 95% of receptionists and 76% of cleaners were women (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 124). Different reasons are held responsible for such disproportion. One argument is that jobs are highly gendered, with a tendency for high-status, high-paid jobs to be male-dominated because they have traditionally been perceived as ‘masculine’. Radical feminist Sylvia Walby claims women are subjugated by patriarchal values that discriminate and confine them to specific areas of work (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 113).

Not only are women under-represented at the highest levels of the occupational structure, they have likewise not achieved equality of pay, despite liberal feminist’s success in campaigning for equal pay legislation. The wage gap was once thought to be narrowing, however, new figures suggest that the pay divide is still a matter of concern today. According to the Office for National Statistics, the pay gap between men and women in full-time work has increased to 17.1% since 2007 (The Guardian,15/11/08). The median full-time gross weekly earnings per week for men in 2007 were ?498, whilst for women they stood at ?395. In 2008 they stand at ?521 for men and ?412 for women. It has been calculated that over a lifetime, women working full-time will earn an average of ?369.000 less than their male colleagues. This result, according to the annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, places Britain 81st in the world ranking in terms of equal pay for men and women in similar jobs (The Guardian,15/11/08).

Part of the reason would appear to be because of horizontal segregation. Much of the female workforce is clustered into a range of semi-skilled, low-status and poorly paid occupations. Across the occupational structure, men predominate in such lines of work as manufacturing, construction, IT and business industries. Conversely, women are overwhelmingly represented in health and social work, teaching, catering and cleaning (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 123). Feminists, therefore, see this as a reflection of the ‘two spheres’ ideology. 2005 demonstrated, in terms of horizontal segregation, that 79% of social workers and 73% of teachers were women. In the same year, 90% of the construction industry and 76% of people working in transport were men (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 123). In addition, the fact that many women work in the part-time sector can be part of the reason for the poor levels of pay they are subject to.

Occupational segregation has been used to explain such high concentration of women in part-time work. Despite the disadvantages it involves, part-time work seems to remain a popular choice for women. In 2004, 5.2 million women in the UK were in part-time employment, compared to 1.2 million men (Giddens, 2006, 757). Social forces such as limited childcare assistance and gender discrimination have also been held responsible for such large numbers of women in part-time work. Many women seeking full-time employment often face unjust hurdles which men do not encounter: a Fawcett Society study (the leading liberal feminist organisation) reveals that 52% of employers consider the chances of a new member of staff becoming pregnant before employing them (www.fawcettsociety.org.uk). However, whilst it is possible that this may discourage many women who intend to have children from looking for full-time work, this is not on its own sufficient reason to explain such a heavy influx in the part-time sector.

Catherine Hakim’s ‘preference theory’ suggests that women’s position in the labour market depends entirely on the rational choices they make (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 125). Hakim identifies two types of women: those who commit themselves to full-time careers or those who prioritise their domestic responsibilities. According to Hakim, many women have different work orientations than men, leading them to choose part-time occupations which enable them to balance their domestic and professional lives. Rosemary Crompton and Fiona Harris agree that women’s position in the labour market is influenced by their decisions. They argue, however, that the choices women make are not always rational, but are the results of the practical challenges and cultural norms they may face. Crompton and Harris believe that women often start a career committed to the idea of full-time employment and the family sphere in equal measure, but in later life might have to compromise one or the other for a variety of reasons. There is, therefore, an important debate between feminists.

Additional theories have been advocated by sociologists to explain women’s continued limitations in the job-market. Talcott Parsons’ functionalist ‘human capital theory’ suggests that women’s natural role is that of childcare. The theory implies that women are likely not to commit to a career or gaining qualifications, preferring to dedicate themselves to their children (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 125). According to Parsons, this lack of commitment or skills renders women less valuable to the employer, and is ultimately the reason for women’s disadvantaged position in the labour market. However, critics of the theory point out that it does not account for the large number of women who dedicate themselves to a career and still end up in lower-paid, lower-status jobs (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 125).

Barron and Norris’s ‘dual labour market theory’ promotes the idea of two labour markets: a primary sector in which professionals and skilled workers belong, characterised by highly paid and secure jobs, and a secondary sector, consisting in lowly paid, less secure jobs mainly occupied by unskilled labourers. According to Barron and Norris, women are more likely than men to work in this sector because they are less interested in wages or status, a view which echoes that of Hakim. Transition from the secondary to the primary sector is rare, ending in confinement within a range of low-paid jobs for one’s entire working life. The theory is criticised by feminists for not being able to explain why skilled women often earn less than men in similar work, or why they get promoted less often than men in the same job (Haralambos&Holborn, 2008, 126).

In the past century, women have made a revolutionary ascent in the labour market even if many work in the part-time sector. However, the rate of improvement seems to have stalled rather than grown. Despite legislation such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), vast inequalities remain in Britain, especially in terms of pay and status. It might well be that more radical reforms need to be made. In Norway, for example, hundreds of women have benefitted from a new act, passed in 2003, which stipulates that companies must increase the number of women on their boards to 44.%. This now means that Norway heads the league table for gender equality, 12 places above the UK (The Guardian, 17/11/08). This suggests that post-feminists are mistaken in believing there is no more for feminists to do. A third wave of feminism, as suggested by Katherine Rake, or ‘new feminism’, to use Natasha Walter’s term, may be precisely what is needed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Bilton, Tony et al. Sociology in Perspective (Causeway Press, ND).
Giddens, Anthony, Sociology 5th edition, (Polity, 2006).
Haralambos, Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives 7th edition, (London: Collins, 2008).

Newspaper Articles:

The Guardian, 15/11/08 p 10.
The Guardian, 17/11/08 ND.

Electronic Sources of Information:

http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk
http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=294
http://www.ehs.org.uk/othercontent/walsh30a.pdf
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5748