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Living With Economic Insecurity: Women in Precarious Work

Document number
2685
Date
2011
Title
Living With Economic Insecurity: Women in Precarious Work
Author/publisher
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Meeting Documentation/Conference Reports, Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour; Human Rights approach, Integrated approach; EU instruments; International Human Rights Law, International cooperation; Inter-organisational co-operation, Multi-agency approach, International law; Holistic approach, National Rapporteurs;
Summary
This report looks at women's economic insecurity focussing on the precariousness of their employment situation. It analyses global trends in the world of work from a gender perspective including the devastating impact of the 2008 global economic recession. It stresses that there is a second wave impact of the crisis on women which is insufficiently recognized. The report underlines the boom of precarious and informal work in virtually all countries. The 2008 economic crisis has only accelerated an already rapid process of informalisation of work. It finds that women are most affected by these labour market trends and highlights how the overrepresentation of women in insecure forms of work undermines women's rights, perpetuates gender inequalities in societies and dampens the prospects for sustainable economic progress. The report challenges the blanket assumption that the increased participation of women in the labour market has provided them with the sufficient means to build economic security. It makes an urgent call to governments to shine the light on the poor quality of the jobs many women hold.
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