Study highlights different career paths of women

In March 2000, the Lisbon European Council set itself the target of boosting employment, notably by increasing the rate of employment among women to 60% by 2010. By 2003, the rate of women’s employment in the EU stood at 56%; however, in Luxembourg it was only 52%. To facilitate an increase in this level, research analysis sought to gain a better understanding of the labour market by examining the patterns of career development among women.

Studies carried out in Luxembourg have shown that women frequently switch between working and being out of work, and that behind these changes lie a multitude of different professional profiles. Research took account of this diversity by analysing women’s work from the point of view of professional careers. The study draws up a typology of female careers, both classifying women’s career paths into typical profiles and defining the different profiles according to the women’s characteristics.

Methodology

The data analysed come from the 1998 Living in Luxembourg socioeconomic panel (Panel Socio-Économique Liewen zu Lëtzebuerg, PSELL2). The survey was carried out by the Centre for Population, Poverty and Public Policy Studies (Centre d’Études de Populations, de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Économiques)/International Network for Studies in Technology, Environment, Alternatives, Development (CEPS/Instead).

The research studied the working lives of women aged between 19 and 66 years who had left school. The sample consisted of 1,307 women aged less than 66 years, who were out of school, had worked at least once for a period of at least six months, and whose career path could be observed for at least 15 years after their first job. A second analysis was carried out on those women with a career path of 30 years after their first job; this subsample amounted to 693 women.

Career path over 15 years

Analysing the first 15 years following women’s first job reveals six different types of career paths (see also figure below):

• women with an uninterrupted or virtually uninterrupted career from the time of their first job and during the first 15 years of their career; 47% of the sample came under this category. For some of the women, their particular family situation – single and without children – was a major factor behind this uninterrupted career. Others who had children had in certain cases been obliged to work, probably for financial reasons. This type was the most heterogeneous of all the categories observed;

• women who worked for less than three years before stopping and who had not returned to work (6%), often because they got married. These women had few qualifications and also tended to be older;

• women who worked for four to seven years before stopping and who had not returned to work (19%). This category is similar to the previous one, and includes women who were even older and less qualified, in many cases with children who had left the parental home. Their standard of living was relatively low, but they regarded themselves as relatively well off even so;

• women who worked for eight to 11 years before stopping, and who had not returned to work (15%). These were younger women, who might perhaps go back to work when their children were older;

• women who worked for 12 to 14 years before stopping, and who had not returned to work (8%). The income of these women’s spouse, where applicable, was comfortable. The women in this category would definitely return to work after a short break;

• women who had worked for a varying length of time, then stopped, started again, and in some cases had a further break and return to work (5%). This category includes higher rates of divorced women, of women from ‘nuclear’ families with two children (that is, not living in an extended family group), of Portuguese women and of highly qualified women. These various characteristics suggest that the women in question will return to the labour market.

Distribution of women across six career path types over the 15 years following first job

Note: The sample includes 1,307 women who were out of school, had worked at least once, and were aged between 19 and 66 years in 1998, as well as being at least 15 years older than they were when they started their first job.

Source: CEPS/Instead, PSELL2, 1998

Typology over 30 years

The typology of the first 30 years revealed a high level of stability over time of women’s employment situations. Over the 30 years of working life observed, more than eight out of 10 women could be categorised into one of the following two patterns: either a continuous career which had been uninterrupted since they started their first job, or a short career which had been broken off more or less permanently.

A non-stop career is not always a matter of choice: the financial constraints of the household, and in particular a partner with a low income, compel women to enter the labour market and stay there, sometimes reluctantly. Some women’s behaviour seems to be at odds with their beliefs regarding the benefits of having a mother at home.

Conclusions

Key factors that prevent the development of female employment are found outside the professional environment. The differences of levels and types of training, the education of children and the unequal division of domestic tasks remain the principal obstacles to the development of female employment, in terms of the position of women in the labour market, career breaks or a return to the labour market. If the women’s working situations are to be improved, employment policies need to focus on each of these areas.

Véronique De Broeck, Prevent