Women, work and recession: the other face of unemployment

Abstract

In analysing women's economic role in a recession, critics and proponents of the "reserve army of labour" theory usually focus on the phenomenon of female unemployment. This paper looks instead at the effects of a female labour reserve on those in employment during a recession. The work experiences of 22 clothing machinists are used to illustrate the argument that a reserve of labour is a competitive force which facilitates management strategies to counter declining profitability. It is argued that such strategies can be pursued particularly successfully with a female workforce.