Rural Women and Socio-Economic Development Policies: The Case of South Armagh

Author(s): Avila Kilmurray
Document Type: Book chapter
Year: 1991
Title of Publication: Women, Employment and Social Policy in Northern Ireland: A Problem Postponed
Editor(s): Celia Davies and Eithne McLaughlin
Publisher: Policy Research Institute, The Queen's University of Belfast and the University of Ulster
Place of Publication: Belfast
ISBN: 187 0654 11 0
Subject Area(s): Rural Issues, Economic Issues, Gender
Client Group(s): Women


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.
 

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