The Gender Jobs Split

How young men and women experience the labour market Katy Jones and Ian Brinkley

Congress House, 1 st November 2013

Young people in employment 2 key areas: •

Occupational segmentation

– which occupations do young men and women work in? has this changed over time?

•

Underemployment

– how has underemployment impacted on young men and women?

Young people in employment: gendered occupational segmentation Occupations of young men and women, ages 16-24 (% points difference) 25 20 15 10 5 0 -5 Personal services Administrative and secretarial Sales and customer service Associate professional and technical Professional -10 Managers and senior officials -15 Unskilled -20 Process, plant and machine operatives Skilled trades Source: Labour Force Survey, average of four quarters, 2011, weighted Note: occupations shown on the left are those dominated by young women, those on the left are dominated by young men

Young people in employment: gendered occupational segmentation Main job major group, 16-24 year olds, %

1993 2011 % point change 1993 2011

Men Women

Managers and senior officials Professional occupations Associate professional and technical Administrative and secretarial Skilled trades occupations Personal service occupations Sales and customer service occupations Process, plant and machine operatives Elementary occupations

13 23 9 11 Men 6 5 7 12 14 Women 6 3 7 31 3 19 19 5 7 6 20 5 17 Men 6 5 10 6 25 Women 4 4 10 13 1 21 24 1 21 6 -6 11 0 0 3 -7 -3 -4 5 -4 14 -2 1 3 -18 -2 2 Source: Labour Force Survey, average of four quarters in 1993 and 2011, weighted

Young workers: dependence on private sector employment Public and private sector employment, 2011 (%)

Private sector employment Men

92

Public sector employment

8

Women

87 13 Source: Labour Force Survey, 4-quarterly average for 2011. NB: Public sector figures in the LFS are based on self reporting and so deviate from the ONS estimates of public sector employment. The public sector figures in the LFS are known to over-estimate the size of the public sector because they can include university staff and agency workers. The data presented in the chart/table are adjusted down to reflect this using the method suggested in Millard, B. and Machin , A. (2007) ‘Characteristics of public sector workers’ Economic and Labour Market Review 1:5, pp 46-54.

Underemployment: young men most affected Underemployment: reason for part-time job, %

Age group Reason for part-time job Student or at school Ill or disabled 16 – 24 year olds

Men 62 1

Could not find full-time job

30

Did not want full-time job

7 Source: Labour Force Survey, average of four quarters, 2011, weighted Women 61 1 21 18

25 + year olds

Men Women 6 5 2 2 29 61 11 85

Young people in education • How do young people’s

qualifications

vary by gender?

• How do young people’s experiences of

apprenticeships

differ by gender?

Young people in education: qualifications Highest qualification levels of 16-24 year olds, %

Men Degree or equivalent

10

Higher education GCE A Level or equivalent

4 33

GCSE grades A-C or equivalent Other qualifications No qualification

33 9 10 Source: Labour Force Survey, average of four quarters, 2011, weighted

Women

12 4 36 32 7 9

Young people in education: apprenticeships Level 2 Apprenticeship programme starts by sector framework (all ages) 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 Male Female

Source: The Data Service, 2011/12

Young people not in education, employment or training • Economic activity • Flows from unemployment • Youth claimant counts

Young people not in education, employment or training Economic activity of 16-24 year olds, excluding full-time students

2007 2011 Economic activity

Men Women Men Women -

Employed Unemployed Inactive Of which: Inactive but seeking Inactive, not seeking but would like Inactive, not seeking and would not like Inactive, looking after family/home

74 15 11 1 3 7 0 67 10 23 1 6 16 13 68 21 11 1 3 8 1 Source: Labour Force Survey, average of four quarters, 2007 and 2011, weighted 63 14 23 1 6 16 14

Young people not in education, employment or training Destinations of young men and women from unemployment

Men Women In employment

26 28

ILO unemployed Inactive

58 16 48 24 Source: Labour Force Survey, 2 quarter datasets, Jan 05-June12, weighted

Key findings and implications •

Hiring paradox

– private sector employers have created over 1.3 million jobs in just three years but has had little impact on number of young people in work; •

Glacial progress towards reducing gender segmentation,

particularly in vocational choices such as apprenticeships – very hard to address once young people are in the labour market; •

Growth of unskilled work

, especially for young women, and continued importance of skilled trades for young men; •

Significant problem of under-employment

for young men and women, but especially for young men;

Key findings and implications • • • • •

Few OECD economies have successfully addressed high unemployment among under 25s

, and none have succeeded without a strong employer based vocational training system;

Transition from school to work is critical

– what happens in schools as important as first contacts with the labour market;

Labour market connections through private and public sector “intermediaries” matter

to increase the willingness of employers to take on non-graduate young people;

Wider policy levers to reduce the share of unskilled work and increase access to higher skill work for under 25s

– for example, higher priority for quality of work in public employment services, public procurement, industrial policies to ensure strong manufacturing and construction base and expansion of technical skills in high value add services;

Implications for social mobility and generational gap

in numeracy and literacy skills.