Women's unemployment; a domestic occupation: A reconsideration of women's employment, unemployment and domesticity

This thesis explores women's unemployment through an analysis of their paid and unpaid work. It is suggested that sociological writing about unemployment has been dominated by accounts of male experience, and a specific consideration of the meaning of unemployment for women is presented here. A blend of research methodologies has been developed, using the work of feminists, life historians and interactionists. This distinctive, qualitative approach produces empirical data about many aspects of the lives of a group of middle-aged women, in which to situate their experiences of work of all kinds. Before presenting an analysis of these data, the period through which the women have lived is discussed, in order to understand the broader social context of their lives. This account draws on the published work of both historians and sociologists, identifying the social trends and events which may have been of particular relevance to women, as well as the range of influences on such developments. The empirical part of the research which is reported on here produced two types of findings. The first deals with the patterns of women's paid employment over the life-cycle, while the second relates to women's attitudes to domestic labour. Both make clear the links between domestic and paid work. A wide range of published material from the seventeenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries is then used to develop an understanding of the contemporary form of domestic labour. Particular attention is paid in this analysis to the ways in which ideological and material influences mould the historically specific meaning and practice of domestic labour. In conclusion, the findings which are presented in this thesis are discussed in the context of other recently published work which addresses the analysis of women's unemployment.