Background
to the Research
- South
Armagh is known in the popular media as 'Bandit Country', due to the
area's high profile in the Northern Ireland 'Troubles'. As such, the
area may not seem the most likely focus for an examination of the needs
and aspirations of rural women. However, in 1988-89 the Rural Action
Project (Northern Ireland) undertook just such a study in cooperation
with local women across the many communities that comprise South Armagh
- women who would both question the media characterisation of their
area and who were conscious of the need to highlight the issues facing
rural dwellers. The study was carried out as part of a wider programme
of the Rural Action Project, which was a four year research programmed
funded under the European Commission Second Anti-Poverty Programme to
identify and alleviate rural deprivation in South Armagh, West Fermanagh,
Strabane and the Glens of Antrim.
Research
Approach
- Data
were generated in a number of ways, including a random sample survey
of 296 women drawn from the electoral wards of Crossmaglen, Forkhill,
Fathom, Creggan, Camlough and Newtownhamilton. This main sample was
supplemented by a series of interviews with older women living in the
area and by group discussions with 82 young people aged 14 to 18 attending
local schools. Fieldwork was carried out in 1988.
Main
Findings
Women
in South Armagh: Living Conditions
- In the
main survey only one elderly interviewee was living in a house without
an electricity supply or mains water. The vast majority of women surveyed
expressed themselves to be 'satisfied' with most of the services, and
were aware that provision of these services was considerably better
in South Armagh than in many other rural areas.
- Some
80% of the houses occupied by those interviewed were built after 1946
and 56% were built after 1961. Such houses had a reasonably high standard
of amenities. Only five houses did not have either fixed bath or shower,
and four houses did not have an inside toilet facility.
- The survey
found that the service issues of most concern were those related to
accessibility. Both ease of communication and mobility are crucial aspects
of life in any rural community. Unusually for a rural area, the proportion
of households without a car in South Armagh is higher than the Northern
Ireland average. There are also fewer households than average with two
cars.
- As many
as 76% of the women in the survey lived in households with either one
or no car; and nearly half of the women interviewed had no driving licence.
This rose to over three-quarters among women who were pensioners.
- Public
transport was used by 72 of the 124 women without driving licences on
a regular basis. Those who did not use public transport cited infrequency
of services, long distances from their houses to the nearest bus stop,
and no bus service to the required destination as the main reasons for
this.
- The importance
of public transport to rural women and the low level of current provision
meant that improvement to public transport was the change most frequently
called for by rural women when they were asked about all services in
the area.
- Half
of those women caring interviewed for elderly relatives in the survey
mentioned the difficulty of access to services and/or the time spent
in travelling to and from the cared-for person's home.
- Two thirds
of the female carers interviewed said their caring role had prevented
them from considering employment or training opportunities.
- Women
with children were also very conscious of the possible impact of distance
and social isolation; indeed the distance issue, the lack of local facilities
and social isolation were the most important concerns for women bringing
up children in South Armagh.
Women
in South Armagh: Economic Activity
- Transport
and childcare were two of the issues which featured highly among women
who were eager to obtain employment outside the home. In terms of childcare,
South Armagh has an even higher proportion of its population under the
age of 16 than does Northern Ireland as a whole (33% compared to an
average of 30%), yet childcare facilities in the area were restricted
to Mother and Toddler groups and to a number of nursery schools.
- The majority
of women who were employed either had their children minded by relatives
or paid a childminder. The other main options seemed to be either to
work part-time or else to wait until the children were old enough to
look after themselves after school. 32% of the employed were working
less than 21 hours per week and 21% less than 16 hours per week.
- Forty
five per cent of women were employed in their own vicinity, while some
of those employed in the nearest large town, Newry, complained about
the low wages and distance to travel. The service sector was a major
source of employment for women with 54% of those interviewed working
in the public sector.
- Unemployment
and the lack of employment opportunities in the region, were major preoccupations
with the vast majority of the women interviewed, and was clearly identified
as the main reason why the area was considered to be disadvantaged.
- When
asked specifically whether women should work outside the home if work
is available, 47% of women said 'yes' and 30% felt that it depended
on family circumstances; only 11% said 'no'. When compared with the
responses of female pensioners, a generational difference in attitude
can be seen. Thirty-eight per cent of older women thought that women
with young children should stay at home. Moving to the views of yet
another generation - the 82 secondary school children interviewed -
74% of girls thought that women with children should work outside the
home while 42% of boys were clear in their feelings that these women
should remain at home.
- The job
choices of the girls who intended to leave school at an earlier age
showed a high level of stereotyped job selection. The choice of childcare,
secretarial and clerical work, nursing, hairdressing and so on, was
a clear echo of the jobs of women already employed in the region.
- Faced
with the suggestion of a Women's Training Workshop, almost all women
who were not working (112 out of 119) thought that this would be a useful
facility in the area. Additionally, 54% of all women interviewed said
that they would personally be interested in attending courses or training
of some kind.
- Of the
25 women living on farms who answered a questionnaire, most felt that
there role had changed over the years. The introduction of machinery
was identified as a crucial element in this changing role.
- Few women
in the South Armagh study had land in their own name - unless they were
widowed - although in some cases land was in the joint names of the
woman and her partner; one woman fell into the category of a 'woman
farmer'.
- Two thirds
of the women in the study regarded South Armagh as either disadvantaged
or very disadvantaged. Specific aspects of disadvantage were listed
as unemployment and lack of employment opportunities; isolation and
poor accessibility; lack of facilities; poor transport; the presence
of the army and the impact of the 'Troubles'.
- Nearly
two thirds of women in the survey considered investment in developing
tourism in the area a priority. In addition, women also discussed the
need to support self-help enterprises; cottage industries; improved
local facilities; and the attraction of potential employers to the area.
- What
emerged, in short, from this study, was a view that defiantly refuted
outside perceptions of South Armagh as a peripheral rural area doomed
to terminal economic decline. The alternative scenario articulated by
the women of South Armagh presented the prospect of an integrated plan
for the area which would both increase employment opportunities and
the possibility for realising a pluriactivity economy.
|