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The study warns that these cuts will damage progress made towards gender equality.
Geneva (8 Aug. 2012) - The public sector in the EU is a major source of employment for women. Increasingly, those positions are being lost to austerity policies, according to a new study.
Women working in the public sector in countries of the European Union (EU) have been particularly hard-hit by recent cutbacks in jobs, wages and benefits, according to the joint International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Commission study Public Sector Adjustment in Europe.
The study warns that these cuts will damage progress made towards gender equality.
Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead, editor of the study, says that because women generally find more and better jobs in the public sector, they are particularly affected when that sector implements austerity measures.
The study shows that women in France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom have the most to lose due to their heavy dependence (45 to 50 per cent) on the public sector for employment, especially in higher level jobs.
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