1. Gender, Migration and Recession

2. Gender, Migration and Recession What does recession look like from a gender standpoint ? What does a gender informed picture of economic crisis look like ? What are the consequences of a gender-blind approach to economic policy ? 3. Gender, Migration & Recession Young people are suffering disproportionately as the economic crisis in Ireland persists. One of the consequences of the severe economic recession has been a dramatic rise in unemployment and emigration, particularly affecting young people. Latest unemployment data show Ireland at a rate of over 13.6% (over 400,000 on Live Register) the second highest level (after Spain) across the EU28. The rate has dropped from 14.7% in 2012. One in three young people in Ireland are unemployed, a rate that has quadrupled over the last five years. 4. Gender, Migration, Labour Market & Recession Irish Context Jobs in this recession have been lost across the economy particularly high rate of job loss in male dominated construction sector from 2007-2010. 2010-13 has seen job losses spread to services sector mainly private but also public. Long-term unemployment (over one year) now at 56% of those on register. Young people are particularly badly affected by high unemployment levels leading to re-establishment of emigration as a reality of Irish society primarily affecting 20-30 year olds. 5. Gender, Migration, Labour Market & Recession Irish Context Much of the job growth over the decade 1998-2008 had been in the service sector, where women's jobs predominate and construction, where mens jobs predominate.Analysis of official statistics shows that in recent months job losses in sectors where men predominate such as construction and manufacturing are now being balanced by job losses in retail, hospitality and personal services where more women than men work. But while women are now more likely to be in paid work, they remain more likely than men to be in low-paid jobs. This gap is narrowing as more men take up involuntary part-time work. Those who work part-time are the most likely to be in low-paid employment. Young people, migrants and women workers concentrated in low paid service work have been particularly affected by reductions in part-time hours during the downturn. 6. Gender, Migration & Recession There are many reasons why gender is a crucial framework of analysis in relation to the recession in this country. For example, from the standpoint of men: Mens unemployment rate is significantly higher than womens. One of the main reasons for this has been the crash in the construction industry which had been a major employer of male labour. While the rate of unemployment level is high among both young women and young men, it is particularly high among young men. Latest figures show that 31% of young men and 25% of young women aged 15 to 24 are currently unemployed - the rise in these rates has been dramatic over the last few years. Young men who often left school early to take up job opportunities in construction now find themselves unemployed and without even basic second level qualifications. Long-term unemployment is a rising - majority are men - and often with skills that are unlikely to significantly increase in demand. Suicides rates are extremely high majority are young men recession has exacerbated already unacceptably high levels. Suicide is the leading cause of death in men aged 15-34 years in Ireland, surpassing the number of deaths from road traffic accidents. Rates of youth suicides in Ireland are now the 4th highest in Europe. 60% of suicides among young people are young men. There were 486 deaths by suicide registered in 2010 (386 were male, 100 were female). Men between 35-44 were the most vulnerable to suicide, with 109 men in this age group taking their own lives (pisa@dcu.ie). 7. Gender, Migration & Recession Irish Context There are many reasons why gender is a crucial framework of analysis in relation to the recession in this country. For example, from the standpoint of women: More households depend solely or primarily on a woman's wage today. A quarter of households with children are headed by lone parents, 87% of whom are women. Women make up the majority of those living in poverty mainly older women and lone parents. Women have different experiences of unemployment to men. Women tend to move between employment, unemployment, working in the home (defined as inactive), casual work, part-time working and the hidden economy. Unemployed women are less likely to qualify for Jobseekers Allowance - which may exacerbate their financial difficulties - this relates to the structure of the benefit system itself i.e. condition of eligibility that a person is available and seeking full-time employment 8. Gender, Migration & Recession Irish Context Other reasons why gender is a crucial framework of analysis in relation to the recession in this country. Women carry out the majority of child and elder care responsibilities most of which is unpaid. Unequal sharing of unpaid work continues to be a significant barrier to gender equality.Women often chosen particular part-time or flexible employment opportunities as a means to balance paid and unpaid work. This restricts job possibilities as only certain employment opportunities will be suitable, and may be contingent upon the accessibility of affordable childcare or flexible work arrangements.Discrimination will continue to affect women striving to retain employment or seeking to move back into work - particularly women who are pregnant, after childbirth or who already have caring responsibilities. The Equality Authority confirms that the largest proportion of gender discrimination cases it is dealing with over the last three years concern pregnancy and maternity entitlements. 9. Gender, Migration & Recession Irish Context Other reasons why gender is a crucial framework of analysis in relation to the recession in this country. Many women face the task of managing household income and indebtedness : as lone parents on welfare or in low paid jobs; as the person responsible for household expenditure in low income households; as the person responsible for the costs of care and as the person responsible for the cost of debt repayments.Women and children are vulnerable to particular exploitation in hidden economy and in sex industry. A recent report has highlighted children in State care being put in hostels and used by the prostitution industry.Women are now increasingly in situations where they are compensating for cut-backs in public and community services and in which critical community development programmes have been reduced or cut completely. 10. Emigration and Immigration to and from Ireland among women (w) and men (m)2005 2006 2007 2011 2012 2013W M Immigration 37,100 47,500 47,500 60,300 71,100 80,000 59,500 53,900 36,800 36,800 21,400 27,20020,400 26,000 27,800 27,700W M Emigration 14,600 15,400 17,300 18,700 20,600 25,700 19,600 29,600 30,100 41,900 28,700 38,800 25,000 28,20040,600 41,900 38,200 44,000W M Net migration 32,600 32,100 30,200 41,600 50,400 54,300 39,900 24,400 6,700 -5,100 -7,200 -11,500 48,900 44,900-20,500 -15,800 -10,500 -16.400-23,900 -16.700Total Emigration for 2013 was 89,000; 2012 was 87,100; 2011 was 80,600 Total Net Migration for 2013 was -33,100; 2012 was -34,400; 2011 was -27,400. Central Statistics Office: Migration and Population Estimates April 2013 11. Ireland: Migrants by nationality and number, 2010Irish U.K. Rest of EU 15 EU 12Emigrants Women 11,900 0,900 3,700 5,600Men 15,000 1,600 4,100 13,500Immigrants Women 6,400 1,100 2,400 2,800Men 6,900 1,400 2,000 3,000Rest of World2,7005,4002,9002,000Total24,90040,40015,50015,300Source : Central Statistics Office Population and Migration Estimates Sept. 2010 Note : 40% of women and 37% of men emigrants are Irish. 41% of women and 45% of men immigrants are Irish. Note : Earlier figures show that between 2008 and 2010 women accounted for the (small) majority of migrants into Ireland and men the majority of emigrants. 12. Ireland: Migrants by nationality and number, 2013Irish U.K. Rest of EU 15 EU 12Emigrants Women 23,800 1,900 7,200 7,000Rest of World 8,500 TotalMen 27,100 2,000 2,600 7,000 4,10044,000Immigrants Women 6,300 2,500 4,700 5,600 6,20044,900Men 9,300 2,400 2,700 5,300 8,60027,70028,20057% of emigrants in 2013 were Irish nationals; 47% under 24 years and 91% under 44 years. 54% of women and 60% of men emigrants were Irish. 23% of women and 33% of men immigrants were Irish. Source : Central Statistics Office Population and Migration Estimates Sept. 2012 Preliminary 2013. Note : Earlier figures show that in most years since 2008 women have accounted for the majority of migrants into Ireland and men the majority of emigrants. This gender gap has narrowed considerably to be almost insignificant. 13. Ireland: Patterns of Migration Ireland during the period of the celtic tiger was a country of high levels of net in-migration. The last two years has seen a reversal of this trend and a return to the historical pattern of emigration. High levels of inmigration took place during the decade to 2007. As the recession deepened from 2008 Ireland reverted to a country of high emigration 60% of emigrants in 2010 compared to 45% of emigrants in 2013 were made up of those who had recently arrived in Ireland (mainly from Eastern Europe) By 2013, 57% of emigrants were Irish nationals (compared to 41% in 2010) made up of mainly, young indigenous Irish women and men (in equal numbers). It is also interesting to note that although numbers fell during the first phase of the crisis they have increased during the second phase - there continues to be a significant number migrating into Ireland (57,300 in 2009; 30,800 in 2010 and 55,900 in 2013). (CSO: Population and Migration Estimates 2010 and 2013) 14. Global Context Huge increase in migration to levels never before recorded Movements from East to West and Third World to First World Deepening global inequality Collapse of regional economies in East and Third World Areas of recurrent and devastating conflict Impact of immigration policies and practices Financial crisis and economic recession 15. Feminisation of Migration - Global Context Women and children are the majority of migrants in the global economy. Since 2008 the proportion of women among migrants in the EU has increased very significantly because of a number of factors including: Level of poverty and crisis in countries of origin Growth in number of women-headed households Growing level of emigration among young women and men Gender-specific demand for certain kinds of labour Demands of growing global sex industry Employment in hidden unregulated economy 16. Global Women Rise in new forms of, mainly female, domestic service Increase in proportion of First World Women in paid employment For some Majority World women this can mean access to independent income and chance to improve material lives of children For others, their illegal status makes them vulnerable to super-exploitation in terms of pay, hours worked, mobility and sexual exploitation For many it means separation from their families, children and homes Economic role of domestic service involves low-status, low paid, unprotected, often hidden, cast-off roles of middle and higher income women. 17. Global Women Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild make the point in 'Global Women' : "..affluent career women increasingly earn their status not through leisure, as they might have a century ago, but by apparently 'doing it all' - producing a full-time career, thriving children, a contented spouse, and a well-managed household. In order to preserve this illusion, domestic workers and nannies make the house hotel-room perfect, feed and bathe the children, cook and clean up - and then magically fade from site. They make the contrast between a past in which domestic servants were 'decked out' in white uniforms and caps and displayed as a statement of status and the contemporary pattern of hidden and invisible domestic service. 18. Global Women This pattern of female migration reflects what could be called a worldwide gender revolution While the European or American woman commutes to work on average twenty-eight minutes a day, many nannies from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India cross the globe to get to their jobs. Some female migrants from the Third World do find something like liberation or at least the chance to become independent breadwinners and to improve their childrens material lives. Others, less fortunate migrant women end up in the control of criminal employers their passports stolen, their mobility blocked, forced to work without pay in brothels or to provide sex along with cleaning and child-care services in affluent homes. But even in more typical cases, where benign employers pay wages on time, Third World migrant women achieve success only by assuming the castoff domestic roles of middle- and high- income women in the First World roles that have previously been rejected, of course, by men. And their commute entails a cost we have yet to fully comprehend. Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild Introduction to Global Women. 19. Global Women Solutions for rich countries create problems for poor countries. Assumption that the care leaving Majority World countries is surplus care ? Most receiving countries have yet to recognise the contributions of their migrant care workers. In fact, there is a strong tendency at individual, family and societal levels to keep migrant care invisible and hidden. Immigration policies are specifically designed to limit the possibilities for reuniting families. 20. Global Women The growing crisis of care in the US and Western economies is reflected in an increase in the demand for care as supply dwindles. Some Majority World countries have become key sources of new supply : Example of the Philippines : Domestic service migration has resulted in huge social changes Two-thirds of Filipino migrant workers are women Majority are in domestic service Many Filipino children grow up in divided families (no definite data) 34-54% of Filipino population is sustained by remittances from migrant workers Crisis and conflict within dominant ideologies Future of extended family system ? Trend towards younger age (child free) migration ? 21. Global Women Local gender ideology remains a few steps behind the economic reality, which has produced numerous female-headed, transnational households. Consequently a far greater degree of anxiety attends the quality of family life for the dependents of migrant mothers than for those of migrant fathers. The dominant gender ideology, after all, holds that a womans rightful place is in the home, and the households of migrant mothers present a challenge to this view. In response, government officials and journalists denounce migrating mothers, claiming that they have caused the Filipino family to deteriorate, children to be abandoned, and a crisis of care to take root in the Philippines. Rhacel Salazar Parrenas The Care Crisis in the Philippines in Global Women. 22. Care and value Care is not socially or economically valued and therefore the burden of caregiving falls upon those who have less of a choice and less decision-making power (resulting from a lack of alternatives, resources and bargaining power). Here lies the root of the segmentation by sex, ethnicity and immigration status seen in this type of work. ( UN Amaia Orozco Global Care Chains ) 23. The link between care, inequality and exclusion The long-standing connection between care, social inequality and exclusion from citizenship, which is taking on new and serious global dimensions today, needs to be urgently recognized and addressed. This link is an integral part of care regimes and while it has been systematically tied to gender and socio-economic inequalities in the past, it is today further associated with immigration status. The absense of a sense of social responsibility toward care, coupled with the relegation of care to households (and subsequently to women), the possibility of receiving care itself serves as an indicator and vector of social inequality. An economistic perspective cannot be used to understand care: the market provision of care fails to follow the simple logic of supply and demand and money is not the only aspect that must be examined. The availability of social networks is a key factor. (UN Global Care Chains Amaia Orozco) 24. The absence of debate: Care regimes are formed on the basis of exclusion and inequality, on the sidelines of public debate. Care is part of the hidden development agenda given its role in the private domestic arena. A democratic debate needs to be urgently initiated: who should provide care, who should receive care, how, where, in exchange for what are all topics that need to be discussed. These debates cannot be held with only the voices of unions and employers. (UN Global Care Chains Amaia Orozco) 25. Migration and care People migrate to support their trans-national families; the socio-economic systems of richer countries are now highly dependent on the work and contribution of migrants; and, in addition, migrants are made responsible for the development of their communities of origin. A rights-based approach to development demands recognition of those who play a leading role in the migration-development question; in that they are the persons who shape, but also make decisions about it and benefit from it. (UN Crossing Borders 2) 26. Global care chains Global care chains are the result of deficiencies in the provision of care (of children, the elderly, dependent persons, etc.) in developed countries, caused by womens entry into the paid labour market and mens continued scarce participation in care-related tasks. This reality has given rise to a delegation of reproductive labour and its various tasks along cross-border chains of women. Added to this are other demographic (population ageing), social (changes in womens individual expectations or the transformation of household structures), and political (absence of public care services) factors that generate a complex web of demands and supplies, in which migrant women play a fundamental role. (UN Crossing Borders 2) 27. Global Women This pattern of female migration reflects a worldwide gender transformation throwing up new class and new gender divisions. While the European or American woman commutes to work on average twentyeight minutes a day, many nannies from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India cross the globe to get to their jobs. Some female migrants from the Third World do find something like liberation or at least the chance to become independent breadwinners and to improve their childrens material lives. Others, less fortunate migrant women end up in the control of criminal employers their passports stolen, their mobility blocked, forced to work without pay in brothels or to provide sex along with cleaning and child-care services in affluent homes. But even in more typical cases, where benign employers pay wages on time, Third World migrant women achieve success only by assuming the cast-off domestic roles of middle- and high- income women in the First World roles that have previously been rejected, of course, by men. And their commute entails a cost we have yet to fully comprehend. Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild Introduction to Global Women. 28. Co-development Co-development arises as an attempt to identify policy and programmatic solutions that will allow countries of origin to access benefits beyond the macroeconomic stability represented by remittances, converting what could be the negative economic and social consequences of migration into opportunities for development. The idea of common interests between origin and destination countries in terms of the active recruitment by developed countries of health personnel from developing countries, which supposes significant consequences for the women of these countries as the recruitment is influenced by gender considerations. Economic and social policies - as well as immigration policies - based on recognition of interests and also the responsibilities (investment in countries of origin). 29. New right to care In the longest-standing welfare states, the three classic pillars (health, education and social protection) are being complemented by a fourth pillar that recognizes the right to receive care in situations of dependency. 30. Articulating care rights (UN Global Care Chains Amaia Orozco) Breaking the vicious cycle between care, inequality and exclusion calls for care rights to be introduced in a way that will constitute a core component of the development process and the way society recognizes its citizens and the rights they enjoy. This universal right has yet to be created and is multifaceted. It includes: the right to receive needed care in different circumstances and at different points in ones life the right to choose whether or not one wants to provide care, combining a right to provide care in decent conditions with a right to not provide care the right to dignified working conditions in the care sector 31. Immigration Policies Restrictive immigration policies 2007-13 implications : Green cards linked to salaries of 60,000+ and specific occupations with recognised shortages and salaries of 30,000-60,000. No work permits to be issued for jobs with a salary of under 30,000. Spouses and dependents of work permit holders not permitted to work (unless have separate work permits). Asylum seekers housed in completely unacceptable crowded conditions with no right to work and allocated under direct provision system only 19 per adult per week. Serious issues of vulnerability of migrant and asylum seeking women and children to sex exploitation in prostituted in the industry. 32. Gender, Migration, & Recession Discriminatory immigration policies ? Restrictions on social welfare rights and entitlements directed at migrant workers. Habitual Residency Clause linked to welfare restrictions and access to housing.Change in Irish citizenship law has a direct impact on family unit and consequently primary carer.Separation of the right to reside and the right to work can be seen to discriminate against women who are more likely to be in a dependent status.Serious problem with lack of recognition of qualifications and skills from countries of origin some changes in EU regulations but majority world or third world countries continue to face discriminatory practices.Increased emphasis on qualified migrant workers constructed in a way that does not include many jobs.Note : European Court of Justice, Zumbrano judgement March 9 th 2011.