Figures released today show that unemployment amongst women is at its highest level for 25 years – despite the overall number of those out of work decreasing.

The number of women without work rose by 8000 in the three months up to February, and now stands at 1.14m. The last time it was this high was November 1987.

In the same period the number of unemployed overall fell by 35,000 by 2.65m.

The thinktank IPPR says that over the past year the number of women out of work has risen by 100,000.

The affects are worrying, with IPPR’s Associate Director Graeme Cook saying that it could send gender equality ‘into reverse’.

He cites the rise of females in employment in the 1990s as the reason behind the increased household income that families enjoyed: "Generally, more women were able to advance their careers,” he said.

“But the big risk is that that doesn't continue in the next decade, in fact it could go into reverse. That has massive implications for gender equality and also how households are going to improve their standard of living."

He added: "If you see big declines in the female employment rate that has very long term impact."

Although the number of those out of work might have dropped, the outlook for those who are still unemployed still looks bleak. The number who have been unemployed for over a year rose from 26,000 to 883,000, the biggest increase since 1996.

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of trade union Unison, which represents public sector workers, says that women have been hardest hit by cuts in this area.

He also suggests that the number of people who have been forced to take up insubstantial part-time work skews the unemployment figures.

He said: "The record number of people forced into part-time working is masking the sheer scale of unemployment. And women are again bearing the brunt of job cuts."

In March, the number claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose for the 17^t successive month.

1. Sophia - April 18, 2012 at 3:58 pm

   It is a real area of concern that so many women have failed to benefit from today's news that the number of unemployed has dropped overall. It just goes to show that it's not just the number of people in work which needs to be looked at carefully.

   Reply