The Demand for Female Labour

Abstract

The last chapter examined the changes in the nature and character of the female labour supply over the post-1945 period, particular attention being given to the increases that have occurred in the Married Female Activity Rate. Empirical studies using statistical analysis have not been widely undertaken to study the labour demand for female workers. Rather the developments in the study of labour demand have been directed at considering the influences on labour demand at the level of the organisation (e.g. Hazledine, 1981), or at the wider economy level (e.g. Henry and Tarling, 1981). This is not to say that economists have not considered the special circumstances which may surround the demand for female labour as against labour demand in general. Oppenheimer (1976) and Hakim (1979) gave consideration to female labour demand but within a narrow context, their approach being to say that historically females have been segregated in a limited number of occupations and/or industries and that female labour demand is therefore related to the relative fortunes of such occupations and/or industries. Each of these two types of approach have extended the understanding by economists of the process of labour demand, but for an understanding of the changing demand for female workers it will be necessary to draw upon both types of approach.