Bibliography

McRobbie, Angela. “From Holloway to Hollywood: Happiness at work in the new cultural economy?” In Cultural Economy, edited by Paul Du Gray and Michael Pryke, 97-114. London: SAGE Publications, 2002.

Walby, Sylvia. “Gender and the New Economy: Regulation or deregulation?” Paper presented in the ESRC seminar ‘Work, life and time in the new economy’ at the London School of Economics, London, October, 2002.

Statistics New Zealand (Tatauranga Aotearoa) 2006 Census: Employment Status

Statistics New Zealand (Tatauranga Aotearoa) Focusing on Women 2005.

Statistics New Zealand (Tatauranga Aotearoa) Employment Relationship: By demographic, geography and educational characteristics. March 2008 Quarter.

United by divisions - Concluding statements

I want to begin my conclusion with some observations -

People of all ages are regularly bombarded with images of superficial celebrity culture or messages about innovation and lofty aspirations, an implication of the neo-liberal focus on info-tainment, a hybrid of information and entertainment. These seductive and subliminal messages encourage all people to enter the workforce as individuals, even if the chances for success in this environment are quite low in reality. In addition to nurturing unrealistic goals in potential employees, employers have also been affected - ‘youth’ and ‘youthfulness’ have now become a genuine selling point in postmodern marketing. “Never before have generational differences and the factor of age played such decisive roles in shaping career trajectories…” (McRobbie, 2002:97) This is the case in many capitalist, First World Western societies, New Zealand included. On the one hand this may seem to bear some raison d’être, but all it really does is segregate the working populations. Once a person reaches a certain age, they are deemed to be ineffectual workers, incurring more costs than capital for the amount of labour they contribute.

Though not the fault of the individual, the emergence of new economies has actually perpetuated previous gender imbalances; furthermore, added emphasis has been placed on the aging workforce. This may seem subtle at first glance, but becomes more evident once one scrutinises the processes and purposes behind these industries. The price for flexibility seems to be an increase in labour and decrease in income. This reflects the milieu of economies that have turned from production to marketing and sales. Therefore, to accommodate these changes, the content, organisation and method of work needed to be changed accordingly.

Patriarchy is still rife, despite the appearance of equality for both genders. The global economic structures are essentially determined by political institutions, which are presided over by men. Although New Zealand labour does show deviation from other models in terms of gender disparities, mostly due to a healthy balance between neo-liberal policies and welfare measures, it still leaves room for improvement.

United by divisions - Disproving McRobbie's statements on the self-employed dilemma

With regards to hours worked, most self-employed people report similar numbers as people in regular employment, approximately forty hours weekly. This contradicts McRobbie’s assertion that self-employed individuals work irregular hours and are thus tremendously disadvantaged by their situation.



As the graph shows, the weekly income of self-employed workers is relatively equally distributed. However, this graph does not document the times when work dries up, as is often the case with self-employed people, who work seasonally or through contracts. Jobs are occasional and/or demand a high degree of focus. 

A quote by McRobbie aptly sums up the truth behind the facade; rather than being the master of one's destiny, we are merely “[Fitting] with the accelerated requirements of high-tech global capitalism…deeply individualised dreams…based on sheer effort…without the resources of welfare.” (McRobbie, 2002:106) In other words, the ideal that self-employment, and the success derived from that, is the pinnacle of individual triumph...is really a complex hoax devised for the mindset of 'common man' by capital-driven institutions in postmodern human societies.

Contrary to popular opinion, “...income levels still show a gap between women and men…[although] the gap has generally narrowed.” (Focusing on women 2005:3) Regardless of the reduced gap, sexual and racial discrimination remain factors in determining salaries.

United by divisions - Gender, age and employment

According to New Zealand statistics, of 1,985,775 people (aged 15 and over) surveyed, 234,954 are self-employed workers without employees, and of those, 82,713 are women. (Statistics New Zealand, Census 2006) If we take this to be a representative sample, nearly 12% of people in the New Zealand workforce have chosen to seek options outside of conventional employer-employee arrangements. This may indicate that New Zealanders are gradually favouring a knowledge-based economy as a result of prevalent neo-liberal influences. Beneath the surface benefits of working for yourself, there is a catch: “There is considerable policy interest in the self -employed and a plethora of schemes to assist people to become self-employed, while their success is variable.” (Walby 2002: 13) When a person is self-employed, the dynamics between the employer and employee are put into question. All the responsibilities of the employer and the employee are transferred to one person. It is difficult to argue the legal grounds for self-employment as theoretically, it is not forced upon the worker. Therefore, the onus is on the self-employee. The nature of their employment also means they are unable to join a trade union; consequentially, it is much harder to resolve disputes and justify injury compensation.

The top three age brackets for self-employment are 45-54, 35-44 and 55-64 respectively. Reasons for choosing self-employment range from having the freedom of ‘controlling one’s own working hours’, working from the comfort of home, starting a new business; others may include being laid off by an existing employer and/or evading actual unemployment. The rates for self-employment almost double between 25-34 and 35-44. Why are older people (ages 35 to 64) more likely to be self-employed? This reflects McRobbie’s statements regarding English industries favouring a youthful workforce. Clearly, the reasons for picking less stable self-employment have outweighed the impetus to remain in regular employer-employee relationships. It would not be an exaggeration to say that perhaps employers are less willing to hire older people for the multitude of issues they bring to the workplace, such as family commitments, health concerns – which relate to hours worked and types of working environments - in addition to physical aging, leading to the reduction of labour-intensive duties for fear of injuries. Furthermore, considerations for pension payouts may also affect the profitability of hiring aging people. Numbers of self-employed decline sharply after age 65, as many will be retirement age and beyond.

The post-modern context requires employers and employees to be constantly up-to-date: Those who do not meet the adaptability criteria will be subtracted from the industry. This makes contractual work seem very appealing, as it demands both the worker and client to fulfil their obligations.

Those with vocational/trade qualifications are more likely to enter self-employment than people with other types of certifications. This may be attributed to the practicality of a trades-related job, in that these skills can be applied without the input of others. However, this type of work tends to be periodic at best, and highly dependent on context and factors. For instance, builders work less during winter due to the weather constraints.

Higher numbers of self-employed people belong in the business/financial industry followed by agriculture/forestry/fishing and construction, respectively. This infers that, for New Zealand at least, self-employment is still the preferred choice in traditional service sectors; contrasted with the United Kingdom and the United States, where self-employment has grown manifold in popularity, extending beyond traditional notions of service.

 

Urban regions contain 75% of all self-employed people, which demonstrates that self-employment is largely technology/communications-based, and urban areas have better access to resources, or simply that there are greater distribution of ethnicities, industries and employment options in the cities. Supplementary data shows that self-employed New Zealand-born people outnumber those of foreign origin by 55%. Of this group, most identify themselves as of only European descent. This is reasonable, given that the new wave of immigrants peaked during the late 1990s; they are probably not familiar enough with the New Zealand context to rush headlong into self-employment. Another thing to be noted is that despite projections, the European population in New Zealand outnumbers all other ethnicities. Correlations between race and self-employment can be drawn, but there are no definitive causes to suggest substantive conclusions.

By March 2008, of the 2,138,900 (of working age) surveyed, some 256,500 were self-employed, 67% of which are male, showing an increase of 2%. Surprisingly, self-employed women have decreased by 2%. This is likely to indicate that more women are becoming unemployed or are engaging in part-time work instead.

 

Part-time employment tends to lack stability and offers less in terms of rewards and opportunities, but like self-employment, it gives the worker more flexibility. This type of work also tends to relegate the individual to low-level, unskilled jobs. This statement holds true, particularly for women – the demands of the post-modern economy means females from the lower to middle-class are required to take up dual roles as mother and worker, or otherwise be unable to provide sufficient financial support for their families.

United by divisions - Women who stick to tradition versus 'go-getting' women; the trade-offs

One conspicuous gender-related change brought about by shifts in ideology: Women in particular are no longer constrained by pressure to settle down, bear children, supervise a household, et cetera. “Women [have] increasingly become engaged with the public sphere of employment and state , and decreasingly confined to the domestic.” (Walby 2002: 4)

The predominantly knowledge-based economy relies heavily on an educated workforce. Thus, people with fewer qualifications are more likely to be employed in a low-wage, labour-intensive industry. And while educational reforms and changing expectations have made it easier for women to receive higher credentials, many females from earlier generations (few received more training than was offered at secondary schools) are restricted to certain types of jobs because they have insufficient qualifications. This scenario is all the more common in non-First World societies.

Though the availability of contraception has reduced the tradition of early marriages, many women are still bound by their biological configuration; that is, they are the only gender that carries offspring. While it is now possible to forego childbearing and childrearing altogether, many people still see this process as an integral part to describe a ‘family’. With this, a conundrum arises. By definition, housewives are generally restricted to the home – this usually means that dual income is less feasible, and even if achieved, tends to be unevenly distributed. Therefore, to maintain a full-time career while raising children is twice as difficult. From this, first-birth average age has soared. The downside of this delay is that women’s infertility escalates with age. The situation is dire – trading youth for comfort and economic stability, or waiting for ideal circumstances and putting one’s reproductive abilities in jeopardy. The generational gap has widened as a result of this lowered and delayed birth-rate.

Arguably, womens' mobility has increased dramatically, with the aid of modern transport, communication and global trade, and perks like the introduction of the Domestic Purposes Benefit in 1973 - giving parents (particularly women) with an absent partner a regular stipend for the purposes of sustaining their dependent children. (Focusing on women 2005:4) - but are they really starting from the same pedestal as their male counterparts?

It is also interesting to note the number of ‘unpaid family workers’ which, as predicted, comprise mainly of women (23,094 out of 39,567, or approximately 58%). However, that means that 42% of men have classified themselves as ‘unpaid family workers.’ This data can be interpreted in two ways: 1) The numbers of ‘unpaid family workers’ have declined significantly, to the point where both genders have a near-equal share in such duties; or 2) The number of unpaid men working in families have increased noticeably - could this also be attributed to changes in the gender regime?

The women and men of the ‘new economy’: United by divisions - the Introduction

The era of postmodernism has presented a plethora of opportunities and issues to explore. Many of those are concerned with the influences of globalisation on the levelling of gender disparities.

Due to the spread of ‘democratic’, free-market Western theories, gender is no longer a precise dichotomy; it has expanded into a broad range of roles, identifications and orientations. Globalisation, or the interconnectedness in processes and human behaviour, has become endemic within the first-world. The time-space continuum with which we were all familiar with has been eroded as a result of immense social and technological diffusion. But is globalisation altering gender regimes in a constructive manner?
 

The consequences of globalisation and free-market reforms have drastically altered the identities and habitats of everyday people. Industrialisation has led to urbanisation. And because urban environments tend to lack space and security, citizens no longer have the means to be self-sufficient. Ultimately, people need money to support their lifestyles. The demand for financial stability creates the need to engage in paid work on a regular basis.
 

One would argue that visual media plays a integral role in identity-forming in the postmodern context. Constant exposure to the various forms of advertising has fundamentally altered the ways in which the concept and definitions of gender are represented: sometimes in a positive light, and at other times with a negative or biased slant, but frequently sensationalist in its outlook. Advertising begets consumerism, and consumerism forms an ongoing cycle of supply and demand – one that is deeply ingrained into the psyche and reinforced frequently. “This engages a process through which states reduce social protection and increase the flexibility of their workforces, in order to follow prevailing theories…in a global market place.” (Walby 2002:3)

Whether or not the reshaping of gender regimes and thus work patterns is a noteworthy achievement will be discussed in the following posts.