Women's Work Pathways Across the Life Course.

Despite numerous changes in women's employment in the latter half of the twentieth century, women's employment continues to be uneven and stalled. Drawing from data on women's weekly work hours in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), we identify significant inequality in women's labor force experiences across adulthood. We find two pathways of stable full-time work for women, three pathways of part-time employment, and a pathway of unpaid labor. A majority of women follow one of the two full-time work pathways, while fewer than 10% follow a pathway of unpaid labor. Our findings provide evidence of the lasting influence of work-family conflict and early socioeconomic advantages and disadvantages on women's work pathways. Indeed, race, poverty, educational attainment, and early family characteristics significantly shaped women's work careers. Work-family opportunities and constraints also were related to women's work hours, as were a woman's gendered beliefs and expectations. We conclude that women's employment pathways are a product of both their resources and changing social environment as well as individual agency. Significantly, we point to social stratification, gender ideologies, and work-family constraints, all working in concert, as key explanations for how women are "tracked" onto work pathways from an early age.

Employment patterns of less-skilled workers: links to children's behavior and academic progress.

Using data from five waves of the Women's Employment Survey (WES; 1997-2003), we examine the links between low-income mothers' employment patterns and the emotional behavior and academic progress of their children. We find robust and substantively important linkages between several different dimensions of mothers' employment experiences and child outcomes. The pattern of results is similar across empirical approaches-including ordinary least squares and child fixed-effect models, with and without an extensive set of controls. Children exhibit fewer behavior problems when mothers work and experience job stability (relative to children whose mothers do not work). In contrast, maternal work accompanied by job instability is associated with significantly higher child behavior problems (relative to employment in a stable job). Children whose mothers work full-time and/or have fluctuating work schedules also exhibit significantly higher levels of behavior problems. However, full-time work has negative consequences for children only when it is in jobs that do not require cognitive skills. Such negative consequences are completely offset when this work experience is in jobs that require the cognitive skills that lead to higher wage growth prospects. Finally, fluctuating work schedules and full-time work in non-cognitively demanding jobs are each strongly associated with the probability that the child will repeat a grade or be placed in special education.

Trends in socio-economic inequalities in female mortality, 2001-08. Intercensal estimates for England and Wales.

BACKGROUND: This article presents estimates of annual mortality rates for women of working age by the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) for the period 2001 to 2008. Until recently, it was possible to produce such mortality rates only at the time of the decennial census when populations are enumerated by occupation and NS-SEC. In 2010, ONS published annual intercensal male mortality rates using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide population estimates by age and NS-SEC. This article produces the corresponding estimates for women aged 25 to 59. METHODS: The LFS was used to estimate female populations by age and NS-SEC for each year between 2001 and 2008. Numbers of deaths were obtained from death registrations. For both deaths and populations, the combined method of NS-SEC classification was used, whereby the most advantaged of a married woman's and her husband's NS-SEC was used to assign the woman to an NS-SEC class. Single women were classified according to their own NS-SEC. Age-standardised mortality rates were derived for each NS-SEC class by year and a number of measures of inequality estimated for each year so that any trends could be identified. RESULTS: While overall mortality rates for women declined over the period, this was not true for all NS-SEC classes. Managerial and professional occupations and Routine occupations experienced a statistically significant decline in mortality rate over the period. There was no clear trend for the other classes. Absolute measures of inequality showed no clear trend over the period, but relative inequalities tended to increase. Routine occupations had the greatest decline in mortality rate over the period of approximately five deaths per 100,000 per annum. CONCLUSIONS: Socio-economic inequalities in the mortality rates of women appeared to increase between 2001 and 2008. However, the results for women were not as clear as for men with four out of the seven analytic NS-SEC classes not having a statistically significant downward trend in mortality. The degree of annual volatility in the measures suggests that at the current low levels of mortality of working age women, the LFS could not be used to provide population denominators below the national level. Possibly, three-year moving averages would be better trend indicators, but this would reduce the timeliness of the data to some extent.

Action research for the health and safety of domestic workers in montreal: using numbers to tell stories and effect change.

In 2007, a Filipina organization in Quebec (PINAY) sought the help of university researchers to document the workplace health and safety experiences of domestic workers. Together, they surveyed 150 domestic workers and produced a report that generated interest from community groups, policy-makers, and the media. In this article, we-the university researchers-offer a case study of community-university action research. We share the story of how one project contributed to academic knowledge of domestic workers' health and safety experiences and also to a related policy campaign. We describe how Quebec workers' compensation legislation excludes domestic workers, and we analyze the occupational health literature related to domestic work. Striking data related to workplace accidents and illnesses emerged from the survey, and interesting lessons were learned about how occupational health questions should be posed. We conclude with a description of the successful policy advocacy that was possible as an outcome of this project.

Cervical cancer risk factors and predictors of cervical dysplasia among women in south-west Nigeria.

AIM: This study identified predictors of cervical dysplasia and assessed the prevalence of risk factors for cervical cancer among women of different socioeconomic classes in Ogun State, Nigeria. METHOD: In a two-phase study, self-reported information on cervical cancer awareness, risk factors and cervical cancer screening practices was obtained from 278 randomly selected working women. A random subset was screened for dysplasia using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). RESULTS: Of the 278 women, 126 (45.3%) were semi-skilled while 152 (54.7%) were skilled and professional workers. Median age at first sexual intercourse was 19 years (range 13-29) and lower than the median age at first marriage (25 years). Gonorrhoea and genital warts were the commonest reported sexually transmitted infections. Only 12.2% of the women used male condoms as their primary method of birth control and 4.7% of the women had ever had a Papanicolaou smear, a practice that was significantly higher among the professional/skilled compared with semi-skilled workers (P = 0.031). Of the 125 screened, 20 (16%) had positive VIA. Young age at first sex (< or = 17 years) (OR = 3.7 (95% CI, 1.07-12.8)) and early first marriage (< 25 years) (3.3 (1.00-10.9)) were associated with a positive VIA. Women with lower parity (0-3) had borderline significantly increased risk of having a positive VIA (3.1 (0.9-10.6)). Women currently over 34 years and those without a history of sexually transmitted infections had lower risk of positive VIA (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Acceptable screening services and cervical cancer awareness campaigns that address modifiable risk factors are urgently needed in this community.

Not enough time? Individual and environmental implications for workplace physical activity programming among women with and without young children.

This study sets out to determine the main issues employed women with and without young children voice as influencing their physical activity behaviors, and to identify the environmental dimensions (e.g., physical, social, cultural, organizational, policy) within and outside of the workplace surrounding physical activity promotion that are most pertinent to employed women in Canada. Thirty employed women participated in focus groups, and four senior personnel were interviewed. Worksite observations were carried out and a Workplace Physical Activity Audit Tool was administered. Results indicate that time constraints and demands of personal and work life are barriers to achieving more activity. The issues surrounding family obligations and pressures for women with young children illustrate the main differences between groups. Key environmental factors are addressed and considered for future workplace physical activity programming goals.

Women, work and musculoskeletal health.

Why are employed women at increased risk for upper limb musculoskeletal disorders and what can this tell us about the way work and family life shape health? Despite increases in women's labour force participation, gender differences in work-related health conditions have received little research attention. This appears be the first study to examine why employed women are much more likely than men to experience upper body musculoskeletal disorders. A mailed self-report survey gathered data from 737 Australian Public Service employees (73% women). The majority of respondents were clerical workers (73%). Eighty one per cent reported some upper body symptoms; of these, 20% reported severe and continuous upper body pain. Upper body musculoskeletal symptoms were more prevalent and more severe among women. The gender difference in symptom severity was explained by risk factors at work (repetitive work, poor ergonomic equipment), and at home (having less opportunity to relax and exercise outside of work). Parenthood exacerbated this gender difference, with mothers reporting the least time to relax or exercise. There was no suggestion that women were more vulnerable than men to pain, nor was there evidence of systematic confounding between perceptions of work conditions and reported health status. Changes in the nature of work mean that more and more employees, especially women, use computers for significant parts of their workday. The sex-segregation of women into sedentary, repetitive and routine work, and the persisting gender imbalance in domestic work are interlinking factors that explain gender differences in musculoskeletal disorders.

Manual lifting load limit equation for adult Indian women workers based on physiological criteria.

A comprehensive equation for the evaluation of a maximum load limit for manual load lifting has been developed for the first time for Indian adult female workers, based on a physiological criterion due to the limitation of applicability of the NIOSH (1991) equation. Ten adult female workers, who had been engaged in building construction activities for at least 7 years participated in this study. The cut-off value was selected as the working heart rate corresponding to the 33% level of maximum aerobic power (i.e. V'O2 max.) of this population, which was equivalent to a heart rate of 101.6 beats x min(-1). An equation was developed based on the effects of the following three lifting parameters on working heart rate: vertical height (knee, waist, shoulder and maximum reach height), lifting frequency (1, 4, 7 and 14 lifts x min(-1)), and load weight (5, 10 and 15 kg). The variations of the specific lifting parameter values were selected from field observations. From this equation, the maximum load limit was calculated as 15.4 kg and the workers give this a psychophysical rating as in the moderate to heavy category.

Social inequalities in perinatal mortality in a Southern European city.

The objective of this study was to describe and explain inequalities in perinatal mortality by educational level and occupational social class in Barcelona for the years 1993-1997. This was a case-control study. Cases were singleton perinatal deaths, controls were singleton live births obtained from a 2% random sample of births. The association among educational level, social class, other confounding and explanatory variables and perinatal mortality was studied through crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) obtained by logistic regression. The study comprised 423 cases and 1032 controls. The model with mother's age and educational level showed that women with primary education had an OR of 1.75 (95% CI: 1.26-2.42), this association disappearing when explanatory variables were included. We also found inequalities by educational level in fetal mortality. These results point out the need to improve the living conditions, behavioural factors and also the management of pregnancy, labour and the health care of the newborn of these mothers with greater risk.

Man works from sun to sun, but woman's work is never done: insights on research and policy.

Gender equity and equality in health and human development are key national and international goals. To achieve these goals, the androcentric definition of work needs to be addressed. The current definition is driven by the globalized capitalistic model, which equates "work" with generating income or the production of goods. Indeed, employment in the formal labor force has become the de facto definition of work. Women's work, unpaid and reflecting the gendered role of caring for others, does not fit the economic mold and is, therefore, devalued. The health and social welfare sectors rely heavily on the unremunerated work of women to reduce their budgets, ignoring the unequal burden of care shouldered by women worldwide. Research on women's health has also been hampered by the dichotomous nature of work as employment. Changing the definition of work to value explicitly women's work could significantly impact social, health, and research policies.

Women CEOs in health care: did they have mentors?

Nineteen of 35 women CEOs of health care organizations who were interviewed in a study to ascertain how female CEOs of health care organizations attained those positions said that they had been mentored, receiving both career advancement assistance and psychosocial support. Mentoring was helpful, but not critical to the women's success.

The reproductive and occupational health of women street vendors in Johannesburg, South Africa.

While the informal sector is rapidly emerging as the major source of employment in poor countries, little attention has been paid to the health hazards encountered by workers in this sector. Women, the majority of informal sector workers in most parts of the world, are particularly at risk. This paper reports on 422 women street vendors trading in 323 city blocks in Johannesburg, South Africa. The median age was 29 years, 66% were single, 29% had primary education and 58% had secondary schooling. Foreign-born women accounted for 15% of the sample and a further 59% of the women were not born in Johannesburg. More than a third of the women did not work for themselves and 48% earned <115 US dollars per month. Fertility was positively related to age and inversely related to education, while reported infertility was related to gynaecological disease. More than half the women used, mainly injectable, contraceptives and only 5% reportedly had PAP smears taken. Most of the women sold food and clothing, 51% lifted heavy weights and a small proportion of the women worked with fire. Over half of the women (54%), mainly those over 40 years and the self-employed, complained of a work-related illness or injury, mainly burns, cuts, headaches and musculoskeletal problems. The type of health problem was related to age and 32% had received treatment. More than half (52%) of the respondents reported that they were not comfortable with the working environment, for reasons ranging from lack of shelter and dirt (34%), noise (26%) and having to clean the area themselves (24%). While only 2% reported that they felt unsafe, violence and abuse was ever present. Approximately one in four women reported some form of abuse, either verbal or physical, while 7% reported that they had been sexually harassed. A substantial proportion (29%) of the women reported that they had been robbed of money or goods while trading in the streets. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Women who sell sex in a Ugandan trading town: life histories, survival strategies and risk.

Little is known about the background of commercial sex workers in Africa. This study investigated how women in a trading town on the trans-Africa highway in southwest Uganda become involved in commercial sex work, which factors contribute to their economic success or lack of success, and what effect life trajectories and economic success have on negotiating power and risk behaviour. Over the course of two years detailed life histories of 34 women were collected through recording open, in-depth interviews, the collection of sexual and income and expenditure diaries, visits to the women's native villages, and participant observation. The women share similar disadvantaged backgrounds and this has played a role in their move into commercial sex. They have divergent experiences, however, in their utilisation of opportunities and in the level of success they achieve. They have developed different life styles and a variety of ways of dealing with sexual relationships. Three groups of women were identified: (1) women who work in the back-street bars, have no capital of their own and are almost entirely dependent on selling sex for their livelihood; (2) waitresses in the bars along the main road who engage in a more institutionalised kind of commercial sex, often mediated by middlemen and (3) the more successful entrepreneurs who earn money from their own bars as well as from commercial sex. The three groups had different risk profiles. Due partly to their financial independence from men, women in the latter group have taken control of sexual relationships and can negotiate good sexual deals for themselves, both financially and in terms of safe sex. The poorer women were more vulnerable and less able to negotiate safer sex. A disadvantaged background and restricted access to economic resources are the major reasons for women gravitating to commercial sex work. Various aspects of personality play a role in utilising income from commercial sex to set up an economic basis that then makes the selling of sex unnecessary. This has implications for interventions, and part of the longer-term solution should lie in improving the economic position of women vis-à-vis men.

A community of citizens: disability rehabilitation in the Palestinian transition to statehood.

PURPOSE: It has been widely argued that community based programmes offer considerable advantages to the classical institutional forms of health and rehabilitation services delivery. With about 10 years of experience in operating community based rehabilitation projects (CBR) for the disabled, the Palestinian experience points to potentially serious problems relating to the conception and operationalization of such programmes in real life situations. ISSUES: Of importance is the issue of the impact of communal care on the already burdened lives of women, especially when such care is expected to be voluntary in nature. Caretaking in the Palestinian context, especially of the disabled, elderly and the sick, is a pre-defined sex linked role dictated by a patriarchal society and system of policy making that excludes women from economic and social life. The voluntary care aspect entailed in the CBR conception and practice, can and does contribute further to the exclusion of women not only from the labour force, but from most other aspects of life as well. This represents an apparent contradiction between the needs of two excluded groups, the disabled and women. The other problematic entailed in the communal model of caring for the disabled is the strategic and operational bias focusing on community, to the exclusion of the notion of social rights of all citizens, and the role and duty of state structures in the fulfilment of the disabled basic needs. Such an approach can only relegate the disabled rights back to their original place as charity. On the other hand, when CBR projects are operated holistically, in the context of social movements existing within power relation and with a broader democratic agenda engaging different groups-including a disability movement-as is currently taking place in Palestine, CBR projects can also turn into a mobilizing force for the social rights of all excluded groups. CONCLUSION: Thus the question is not merely one of governmental involvement as opposed to the involvement of non-governmental organizations and charitable societies in community based projects. Rather, it is a question of the right to a decent life for all, in dignity and security, that citizenship and statehood promise, but have yet to deliver in many developing countries, especially in Palestine.

Politizacion desde abajo; las mujeres en la participaciòn popular

CONTENIDO: La ley de participación popular y los paradigmas de la despolitizacion; participacióny neoliberalismo, la naturaleza de la ley de la participación popular, los actores de la base de la ley de la participacion popular ; las organizaciones territoriales de base, el comite de vigilancia; participar desde la exclusion; las mujeres participan desde la precaridad; las mujeres participan desde la subordinación, la especificidad historica de las demandas de genero, demandas y mediaciones en la ley de participación popular, demanda y representación. La norma de planificación participativa Municipal, la voz masculina, el silencio femenino, la voz de los tecnicos como modelo autorizado de discurso, la voz del sistema politico, ¿ el silencio de la sociedad?; la suerte de las demandas de genero en los planes de desarrollo Municipal, demandas sin mediaciones y la comunidad como emancipacion

A profile of women CEOs/administrators in community and migrant health centers.

Most of the current research on women executives has focused on models in which few women achieve the highest position (e.g. hospital CEOs). This article looks at the nation's Community and Migrant Health Centers where substantial numbers of women hold the highest executive position. A national profile of women Community and Migrant Health Centers (C/MHCs) Chief Executive Officers/Administrators is provided in terms of their personal and work characteristics, as well as their values and beliefs regarding successful C/MHC attributes and important managerial practices. The study compares C/MHC Chief Executive Officers/Administrators based on gender. The study found that 41 percent of the CEO/Administrators were women and that they shared similar values and beliefs about functions/critical managerial factors and managerial characteristics of C/MHCs with their male colleagues. However, the study did find a comparable salary differential of over $11,000 in favor of male Chief Executive Officers/Administrators. The article reviews the literature of female executives in health care and concludes with recommendations for further study using the C/MHCs CEO/Administrators as a model study population.

Mujeres en el trabajo / Womens at work

Este trabajo describe la situación de las mujeres trabajadoras respecto de su salud ocupacional. Destaca las consecuencias que las mismas sufren por las estadísticas imprecisas, los inadecuados cuidados a su salud y la carencia de legislaciones y políticas que pudieron haberlas protegido de aquellas condiciones de trabajo y medio ambiente adversos para su papel reproductivo. Enfatiza la necesidad de una atención inmediata para la situación de la seguridad y salud de las mujeres en el trabajo... (AU)

Occupation and breast cancer mortality in a prospective cohort of US women.

The authors examined the association between main lifetime occupation and subsequent breast cancer mortality in a large prospective study of US adults. After 9 years of follow-up, 1,780 cases of fatal breast cancer were observed among 563,395 women who were cancer-free at interview in 1982. Main lifetime occupation was derived based on self-reports of current and former occupational titles and was classified into 14 broad occupational groups and 16 more narrowly defined occupational titles. Results from Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for breast cancer risk factors, revealed little variability in breast cancer mortality by occupation. Two significant associations were observed: In comparison with housewives, women in "administrative support, including clerical" occupations were at a small increased risk (rate ratio (RR) = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.31), and an increased risk was seen for "executives" (RR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.03-3.62), based on 10 breast cancer deaths. No significant increases in risk were observed for teachers and librarians (RR = 0.89), nurses (RR = 0.84), managers (RR = 0.89), or women employed in sales (RR = 0.88) or service (RR = 0.84) occupations. When analyses were limited to women who had worked in their occupation for 10 or more years, the results for each occupational title were virtually unchanged. These results offer little support for an association between occupation and breast cancer mortality in general or for particular occupational titles, including teachers and nurses.