Over the past 20 years, employment in the services sector has grown by 2.4 per cent per year. Therefore, had women merely maintained their share of employment in this sector, they would have made a substantial contribution to employment growth over the period. As it is, however, women not only maintained but increased their share of employment in the services sector from 40 to 47 per cent. At the same time, employment in the manufacturing sector, in which nearly three quarters of the workforce is male, has been contracting. By comparison, only 13 per cent of all employed men are working part-time.
Casual work offers significant advantages to employers.
First, it provides them with greater flexibility by allowing them to employ staff only when they are needed. Other factors that have contributed to greater female participation in the labour force include rising educational levels of women and increases in female wages which have effectively raised the opportunity cost for women not working. Another significant factor has been the change in social attitudes to women working. In conclusion, women have not, on the whole, taken jobs away from men. This is not to say, however, that there would not be more men employed if there were fewer women to compete with in the job market.