Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (14)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hakim, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

European Sociological Review 12:1-31 1996
© 1996 Oxford University Press

research-article

Labour mobility and employment stability: rhetoric and reality on the sex ferential in labour-market behaviour

Catherine Hakim

Department of Sociology, London School of Economics Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. Tel: 0171 955-6655; fax: 0171 955-7405

Using national data for Britain and other industrial societies, we assess claims that sex differentials in labour mobility and employment stability have disappeared with rising female labour-force participation rates. Results for Britain show a continuing sex differential of 50 per cent in the standard measures of labour turnover and job tenure. These sex differentials are typical of the European Community and other industrial societies. Further, sex differentials in labour mobility and employment continuity are dramatically increased when the focus changes to movement in and out of the labour force instead of attachment to a particular employer. Women are two to four times more likely than men to enter and exit the workforce in a given period. Work histories display even more fundamental sex differences, and show that discontinuous employment has been replacing continuous employment and the homemaker career among women. The methodological implications for the analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal data, and the substantive and theoretical implications for understanding women's employment are addressed. Qualitative divisions within the female workforce can no longer be ignored, as they impact on occupational grade, earnings and life chances, and can distort crossnational comparisons.

Manuscript received: November 1, 1994.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Sociol RevHome page
T. Schils
Early Retirement in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom: A Longitudinal Analysis of Individual Factors and Institutional Regimes
Eur. Sociol. Rev., July 1, 2008; 24(3): 315 - 329.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Work Employment SocietyHome page
J. D. Vlasblom and J. Schippers
Changing dynamics in female employment around childbirth: Evidence from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK
Work Employment Society, June 1, 2006; 20(2): 329 - 347.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Work and OccupationsHome page
A. E. Davis and A. L. Kalleberg
Family-Friendly Organizations? Work and Family Programs in the 1990s
Work and Occupations, May 1, 2006; 33(2): 191 - 223.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Work Employment SocietyHome page
J. Elliott
Comparing occupational segregation in Great Britain and the United States: the benefits of using a multi-group measure of segregation
Work Employment Society, March 1, 2005; 19(1): 153 - 174.
[PDF]

Home page
 Urban StudHome page
J. Smits
Career Migration, Self-selection and the Earnings of Married Men and Women in the Netherlands, 1981-93
Urban Stud, March 1, 2001; 38(3): 541 - 562.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Work and OccupationsHome page
A. MASTEKAASA and K. M. OLSEN
Gender, Absenteeism, and Job Characteristics: A Fixed Effects Approach
Work and Occupations, May 1, 1998; 25(2): 195 - 228.
[Abstract]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.