Background to the Research
- Women's
Working Lives Survey was commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission
for Northern Ireland in 1990. The survey was designed to:
- identify
factors which determine whether or not women participate in paid
work and how the unpaid work undertaken by women in the home influences
their involvement in the labour market;
- record
the type of paid work women have done and do, as well as their
attitudes and experiences of employment.
Research Approach
- 1000 women were interviewed who lived in
private households and were aged between 18 and 65. The sample was
drawn from the 1990 Register of Electors using a 2 stage proportionate
random sample. The interview took a semi-structured approach, including
some prompt items.
Main Findings
Women In and Out of Trade Unions
- 55% of women had been in a trade union
at some point. 58% of those in work have a union that they could join,
and three quarters had joined it (46% of those in work).
- Membership patters were dictated by practical
reasons, rather than by principles. 30% of respondents had left a
union, mostly (61%) because of moving out of work. Only 15% left because
of dissatisfaction with the union. However, where no union was available,
only 14% said they would like to join one.
- Reasons for never joining a union were
mainly due to lack of opportunities, that is, there was no union available
(57%) or respondents were not in work (21%).
Level of involvement in Unions
- 8% of women who had ever been in a union
had held office.
- The higher the work status, the larger
the proportion of women belonging to a union: 28% of full-time professionals
were members (mostly of nursing, health-related, teaching or public
sector unions), compared to 7% of unskilled workers.
- There was poor attendance of union meetings:
51% never attended and another 37% only attended occasionally, the
main reasons being lack of interest (28%) and inconvenient times (26%).
16% said they did not know about meetings or when they were held.
- Responsibility for children and/or a house
do not seem to affect the level of union involvement, although the
number of office bearers are small.
Union Involvement and Respondents'
Attitudes
- Level of union involvement did not affect
attitudes to women working, level of pay, chance of promotion and
her job, or to commitment to a job. However, union members, and especially
union office holders had lower opinions of the organisation they worked
for.
Do Union Members Benefit from
Membership?
- Union members tended to be paid more, and
have more benefits and 'perks'.
- Union membership increased with pay, regardless
of type of work, or whether work was full- or part-time: no union
members earned less than £25 per week, while 19% earned more than
£200 per week. Women working in a non-unionised workplace were more
likely to be in the lowest pay categories.
- 85% of union members had a written employment
contract, compared to 46% of workers where no union was available;
92% of union members had paid holiday scheme, compared to 25% working
in non-unionised workplaces.
|