Precarious employment is most frequent among women

100,000 more women than men have precarious employment and therefore run a great risk of becoming unemployed due to the crisis. This is shown in the LO report on forms of employment in the Swedish labour market.
The LO report “Forms of employment in 2008“ shows that women are, to a higher degree than men, employed for a limited period. Out of all women employed, 18 per cent are employed for a limited period while the corresponding percentage of men is 13 per cent. In figures it corresponds to 352,000 women and 252,000 men.

This is - to a great extent - due to the fact that terms of employment are different in sectors where men or women in majority. The report shows a working life where gender equality is still lacking. If this is to change, employers’ possibilities to use temporary employment must be regulated, Per Bardh, the negotiating secretary of the LO, states.

You can find the greatest difference between young women and young men. In the 16-24 age group, 61 per cent of women are temporary employed, compared to 41 per cent of men. The percentage of those temporary employed among both women and men decreases subsequently the higher the age group. Also the differences between women and men decrease.

The report also shows that it is more unusual that trade union members have temporary employment. Among LO members, the share of those with temporary employment is 11 per cent. Among TCO (The Swedish Confederation for
Professional Employees) and SACO (The Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations) members, the corresponding figure is 8 and 11 per cent respectively. Among employed persons who are not organized in a trade union the share of those temporary employed is 27 per cent.

We can see that many people do not join the union until they have a permanent job. This is unfortunately something to which trade unions have contributed to a certain degree. Trade unions must improve when it comes to organising those who have a limited employment and work for an improvement of their employment conditions, Per Bardh states.