This project will assess the equality impact of the recent recession on the labour utilisation and position of women and men in the labour market, and on the employment of lone parents. These impacts will be considered against the backcloth of longer term demographic and policy developments leading up to and during the recent economic downturn. An important question to be considered is whether as a result of surplus labour, increased labour market competition, and intensified business conditions, recession acts to heighten the employment penalties experienced by women. This could occur through increased sex discrimination, or fewer efforts by employers to apply equality and diversity policy as a means of recruiting and retaining staff. To explore this question we will use recent innovations in statistical matching techniques to form comparison groups of men matched to women to explore whether women and men who are comparable in terms of their individual characteristics differ in their labour market outcomes.

Topics: