DOCUMENT RESUME, ED 052 464 AC 010 509 AUTHOR Seear, B. N. Re-Entry of Women to the Labour Market After an TITLE Interruption in Employment. INSTITUTION Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (France). PUB DATE 71 NOTE 130p. AVAILABLE FROM OECD Publications Center, Suite 1207, :750 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006 ($3.00) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF -$O.b5 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS Employment Opportunities, *Equal Opportunities (Jobs), *Females, *Manpower Development, Occupational Surveys, Vocational Adjustment ABSTRACT The problems involved in the re-entry of women into employment were studied, and the extent to which there exists a demand for employment for re-entry women was examined. A growing number ot women are seeking re-entry in a wide range of income levels. The 4c,man1 for part-tice work appears to exceed supply. Official m!c-tnery for assistinc re-entry women exists, at le.st nominally, ,n all the countries studied. It has to be decided, however, whether special machinery needs to be created to deal vit), the particular problems of this group and whether such machinery should take the tote of a Women's Bureau. In the United States, the Women's Bureau is getting results. Many woken have been handicapped in their careers 'hrough lack ot vocational guidance. Whe:e there are good openings, many are prevented from taking advantage of them through lack of basic educational qualifications. Success achieved in training older women is being achieved. This study has shown that re-entry programs for older women can ha a satisfactory investment for both the community and the woman herself. The nature of the women's labor market will its any case change over t:le next decade os a result of the combined effects of technology and of the introduction of equal pay. (Author/CK) re-entry of women to the labour market after an interruption in employment by B.N. SEEAR n; 'n Personnel Manageme^.1 Res Condon School of Econorks ORGANISATION TR ECONOMIC CO-OPEANION ANO DEVELOPMENT The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and De.:01- opment (OECD), Was set up under a Convention signed in Ports on 14111 Detember. 1960, whir'', provides that the : OECD shah' promote policies designer -- to achieve the highest suJainable economic growth and employe et t and a rising standard of Ming in Member countries. while maintaining financial sta- bilit, cod !hos to contribute to the development of the world economy ; to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries :n the process of economic development ; to contribute to the evansior of wo-id trod( on a multilateral, nondiscrimifictory has in aceoirlaoce iiith international r The ,Ifembcrs of OECD arc Austria. Belgium, Canada, DcnnA, Finland, France. the Lileral Republic of Geri 'any, Ireland, Italy, Ireland. Grcccc, 1.,m-mboarg, Japcn the NethcrIcnds ,Vorway. Portugal, Spain, Swolen. Swit:crian*, Turkey. the Oritcrl Kingdom and the Un,'Ic,1 Slates. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface The Meaning and Rclevan-c of the Re-Entry of 11'0)1:en Int,) 1. Employment 9 T`,. Ite-Entry Pcocess: Opportvnities and Cbsti:cles 7 11. Notes on Developments In the Collaborating Countries 35 111. c2wada .15 Dim marl; 12 Federal Republic of Germany 17 Frante Italy Netherlalds 65 Sweden 72 5. United Kingdom United Stales of America 96 Recapitulative Tablc on the Re-Entry of Women to the Labrlir Markel In Nine Member Countries 109 IV. 113 The Costs and the 13.ene1its Conclusions and Comments 127 V. PREFACE The enquiry on which this report is based was initiated by OECD The aim was to make a preliminary investigation into the main in 19G8. factors affecting women's re-entry into empioymen, and, in particular, to explore: the need for women to return to employment, both ;o meet the a) satisfy the m inpover requirements of their countries and to desire ..)f many older women to obtain paid work; the steps 'acing taken to enable women to return, Including the b) provision of infonnation and advice, the availability of training and retraining schemes, the financial and other assistance for trainees t nd the frcilities for obtaining employment with or without training; the way in which training be,hemes have been adapted and devisee c) to meet the special requiremeats of the older woman with regard to hours of work, course content, and teaching methods; the effectiveness of the measures taken in terms of the economic d) contribution of the women once employed and the satisfaction of the women themselves. The OECD countries which took part in the twill). were Canada, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic :4 Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The range of topics to be considered, the number of countries in- volved and the resources available larhely determined the nature and In response to a letter sent by the OECD to all methods of th!. enquiry. participating countries, the appropriate ministries provided facts and figures in the main areas of the studs. The inNestigator subsequently collect ad- visited each country in turn to discuss the data provided and to ditional inforr)ation. Contac.was al so made with tratningestablishmrnts, 7 4 employers, trade unions and research org:misations with interests in this Held. It is obvi,aus that in view of the width of the subject, the diver: ity of the problems arlaing- in different countries and the limitations of time and other resources, the study was Inevitably impressionistic and In- complete. Moreover, many changes in this field are of recent date and the facts and figures needed to justify firm conclusions in many instlees dirt not and do r-,t exist. Despite these reservations it has nonetheless been possible to re- cord a numbe;. of Interesting experiments, to Identify pro5lems common to many countries, to suggest useful future studies and to raise policy issues on which decisions are needed, The chapter on the Costs and Benefits was prepared in consultation with Dr. E.J. Mishan, Reader In Economics, London School of Eco- nomics. The vl.ws expressed throughout are those of the author, and do not in any way bind the authorities of the countries concerned. I THE MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF THE RE -ENTRY OF WOMEN INTO EMPLOYMENT For centuries many %voraent, young and old, fangle and married, have take- part :n thel countries' economic life. In ni(die%al and early modern times, their work teas carried out primarily in their men homes or on nearb; farms.* With industrialisailon, however. many women's job:: %%ere shifted into factories and taken over by men, %%hlle the scope for economic activity sh: ank for the %,.omen oho stayed at home. Though the range of work available for %%oincn became more limitr2d, the need to corn money to supplement family incomes continued to drive many women to take %%hr.leve. employment they could find, fitting it in as best they could with the domestic responsibilities uhinh dominated their lives. Vet it is The employment of older women 13 not, therefore, near. not perhaps realized how substantial I. the economic contribulton of the older woman, and how important an element murk is in women's li%es. As 'fable 1 shots, in Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany, over .10`ri of women in the age groups 15 to 6$ are economically active, and well over 3Ori ,n Canada, United States and Svxden. Important as this problem has always been. he'e are special fea- tures In the present and future situation of working %vomen that make the subject of their re-entry into employment a matter of particular and widespread interest today. relevant tutors are ooth social and economic. Trv.ailit-isir. teLtio-s tt Socioloiit e E. 1;11(toi, N 4 j E ( 0 2 2 7 3 9 M 8 5 6 - % 4 4 4 3 3 2 3 2 5 O 1 W L A T O T N N O E F L 6 6 M 5 8 8 0 0 9 C L I 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 T A O W A L U P O S R D R P E 5 0 5 5 8 1 N D A 1 1 E A E L T O L . 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I Q 2 I It is assumed that i.. the future, as in the past, women's family Their work responsibilities will continue to influence their work roles. situation can, therefore, only .oe understood ii considered in conjunction with the requirements of family life. It is because important changes arc taking place, both In family life and at work, that the position t,r the older woman seeking employment requires special stady at the present time. In Western countries, the average size of family, vl,ries but (.1.spite differences 'ctween count! Jes and fluctuations in the birth role within countries, the size of family nowhere shows signs of t eturning to nit,e- teenth century dimensions. The marriage age continues to drop and, perhaps most important of all, the age at which the average woman has her last child has fallen Table 2 makes clear the to thirty, or below, in .1 number of countries. extent of the change in most of the countries include:1in this survey Where, as in the United Kingdom, almost all girls take paid work on leaving full-time cducatir,n, the mother lo,,k(ng for employment fa seeking to re-enter the labour- market. In ;once cotn.tries, howev.-n as In the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent in Fiance, wnere it is still not uncommon for unmarried girls to slay at home or to work on the family rarm or in the family business, the married woman seeking em- ployment may be entering the labour market for the first time. Per situation, which cmittot stri.tly be included In a study of re-ntry prob- lems, presents considerable difficulties and the assistance nmessary for many re-entry women will often be even more important in these In benmark and In the Netherlands, ior example, as the numter eases. of small farms and family business declines, W1VCF, who have played an active part in the family concern are now looking for jobs on the open it is interesting that, in some eases where the family business market. Is no longer sufficient to support the family, the husband may take paid employment, leaving the farm or shop in the i.t.re of the wife. While the family is changing so also Is the labour market, With slight variations between countries, and with interesting signs of new developments more apparent in some countries than in others, the labour market for women has been, and still Is to a large extent, dif- ferent from the labour market for men.* There Is, of course, an overlap area, hut compared with the ext-nt of the distinct male and fe- male labour mat kola it is small and relatively unimportant. in the professional field in most cow tries women work mainly in the tradi- tional female professions -r teaching, nursing and social w.rk. In France, for example, in 1962, 63.7% of all teachers were women. 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