A Matter of Small Importance? Catholic and Protestant Women in the Northern Ireland Labour Market

Author(s): Celia Davies, Norma Heaton, Gillian Robinson and Monica McWilliams
Commissioned by: Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland
Document Type: Report
Year: 1995
Publisher: Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland
Place of Publication: Belfast
ISBN: 0 906646 367
Subject Area(s): Employment, Gender, Equality Issues
Client Group(s) : Women, Employees

Background to the Research

  • The Centre for Research on Women at the University of Ulster approached the Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland with the suggestion for a second look at the Women's Working Lives Survey. That survey, a major project of the Commission, had already been reported in some depth in an importat collection of articles. However it was felt that it could bear further investigation and provide data for a preliminary examination of the similarities and differences between Catholic and Protestant women in the Northern Ireland Labour market.

Research Approach

  • The effective sample of the study was 871 women drawn from the survey; 58.3% of women were Protestant and 41.7% Catholic.

  • An overview of the 1981 Census was also carried out, paying special attention to coverage of the employment of Protestant and Catholic women. The project concentrated on questions of differential participation of women in the two communities in paid work and on the forms of work they do.

Key Findings

Profile of Sample

  • Protestant women are older on average than Catholic women and they are less likely to have dependent children.

  • A majority of Protestant women live in the Belfast area with a majority of Catholic women living outside that area.

  • A much higher percentage of Protestant women have a partner in paid work than do Catholic women.

Who Participates in Paid Work?

  • Catholic women's economic activity is markedly lower than Protestant women's, and the proportions in work are lower for Catholic women for both full-time and part-time work.

  • Catholic women's comparative employment disadvantage holds true for both younger and older women; it is more marked, however, for older women.

  • Catholic women are consistently more likely to be unemployed than are Protestant women; this pattern remains regardless of age, marital status, area of residence, age and number of dependent children.

  • Contrary perhaps to expectations, however, there are higher proportions of younger Catholic women, and particularly those whose children are under five years of age, in full-time employment than there are in the Protestant population.

  • For Catholic women living outside Belfast, only 44% are in employment compared with 59 % of Protestant women. This is one of the largest differences between the two groups revealed in the study.

Which Women, Which Jobs?

  • Public Sector work, especially in medicine and health, is the most important sector of work for Catholic women, followed by personal services; distribution and catering is the most important for Protestant women, followed by medicine and health.

  • In occupational terms, more Protestant women work in clerical jobs, while more Catholic women are concentrated in personal social services.

  • Clerical work is significant in terms of both full-time and part-time work for both groups of women; personal service work, as already noted more important for Catholic women, is especially so for those who work part-time.

  • There is a higher percentage of Catholic women in professional occupations than Protestant women, although the importance of teaching for both communities is notable.

  • Younger Protestant women are strongly concentrated in clerical work, whereas younger Catholic women are concentrated both in sales and public services.

  • The occupations of women who live in Belfast are broadly similar, though a pattern of more personal service work among Catholic women remains.

The Question of Earnings

  • There are more Catholic women in the lowest earnings bands and this holds true for both full-time and part-time workers.

  • Though the numbers are small, there are also more Catholic women in the higher income bands.

 

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