Unemployment and Difficulties for Reconciliation. Key Gender Issues in the Economic Crisis in Spain

Abstract

Due to the definition of “work” usually employed by labour lawyers and economists, and given that the economic crisis in Spain has had an impact mainly on the construction sector, which has a mainly male workforce, the effects of the crisis on women have hardly come to light. However, this paper provides data to support the following conclusions: women have suffered significant employment and Social Security affiliation losses; there has been a significant increase in the number of women seeking paid work outside the home; and women spend more time working than men. Nonetheless, the worst effect of the crisis is that equality is no longer in the political agenda, and that the rights of reconciliation of family and professional life underwent a considerable setback in the 2012 labour reform.

Keywords: Equality, Gender, Employment, Reconciliation, Economic Crisis.