Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Women and Employment Survey: Changes in Women s Employment 1980-2005

Description

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The Women and Employment Survey was commissioned by the Department of Employment and carried out in 1980 jointly by the Office for Population Censuses and Surveys and the Department of Employment. The last major survey covering women and employment had taken place in 1965.

The main aims of the survey were to establish what factors determine whether or not women are in paid work and to identify the degree to which domestic factors or more broadly the sexual division of labour shapes women's lifetime labour market involvement; and to collect full information about the work they do, their pay and conditions of employment, as well as the way they behave in the labour market when they leave jobs or look for work. The study also set out to determine the importance of work to women and their job priorities. An important and innovative feature of the survey was the collection of detailed work histories covering the whole of women's working lives since leaving full time education and detailed histories of other vital events such as the births of children which were likely to have consequences for women's labour market behaviour.
Aims and Objectives of the Conference

    * To conduct a historical evaluation of policy interventions in the family and work interface
    * To consider continuities and change in labour market inequalities including the interaction between gender, class and ethnicity
    * To evaluate data quality and methodological issues

The conference offers a unique opportunity for internationally recognised researchers and influential policy makers to meet and reflect on one of the most pressing social issues of our time: gender equality.

Organisers: Ceridwen Roberts (University of Oxford), Jean Martin (University of Oxford), Shirley Dex (Institute of Education) and Jackie Scott (University of Cambridge)