The future of essential women’s roles looks grim

[Londonlassy]

I previously worked in the hospital system as a registered nurse. Leaving bedside nursing was the best thing I could do for my physical and mental health. I became a nurse to follow in my mum’s footsteps. I loved hearing my mum’s stories from the ward. My mum absolutely encouraged me to entering into nursing. She told me I would always have work, make a difference and get to see the world. However I have discouraged my DC and nieces from going into nursing. My feedback is it’s a job with enormous responsibility but no autonomy. The workload is unmanageable. You feel guilty and depressed because the job you would like to do is just not possible and you can’t meet your own or your patient’s expectations

I caught up with a teacher friend who entered her profession as she was inspired by a role model teacher she had in high school. She is in the process of leaving teaching and she is really honest with her students about the harsh realities of the role and spends time discussing other careers with better conditions and pay.

So many women enter into traditional women’s work ( childcare, teaching, nursing, social work) because an older female inspired them or they believed an idealistic idea of the role. No ones encouraging our young women to go into these roles and men aren’t putting there hands up to do it. I just think the future for essential women’s works looking dire.

YABVU to describe these as “women’s roles”.

Agreed.

Most of mental health nurses I know are male. Social workers (well ex) are male and female.

The people I know have carers have male and female carers. The majority of the male ones are ethnic minorities.

Oh and a friend has just lost his long standing male carer who has got a better paid job elsewhere. The carer is in his 50s.

89.6 percent of nurses in the NHS are women. So yes it is traditionally a female role

Then say that rather than women's roles.

Gender stereotyping like you are doing is what is screwing up today's children.

I'd rather they werent considered essential women's roles

I'd much rather they were just roles that were funded and staffed appropriately

I was essential worker and worked throughout lockdown- as a result my child didn’t learn to read/ write and had problems with self-esteem and was bullied upon return to school (by children whose mums were on furlough or housewives).
We never received a pay-raise, even now, 3 years later, although prices of everything doubled. I understand why women are leaving, small pay/ reward for a huge effort, with negative impacts on their families and mental health. I am also quitting, fool no more.

A role done by lots of females now or in the past does not mean it has to be that way in the future. Same with roles up to now done by males.

The real issue for all of us is that teaching/nursing/doctoring/care/police - none of these are good career choices at present due to falling real pay rates, stripping out of non-pay benefits, workload and the pressure of awful working conditions.

Yep. Leaving aside the politically correct wish list, the reality is that jobs/ professions in Britain are massively skewed by sex. And the traditional female ones are particularly low paid with high responsibility and the constant narrative of ‘needing to give something back’.

It is still normal to see news articles talking about women being taken on in traditionally male job roles - and usually followed by comments on their appearance.

Britain is more sexist now than it has been for a while.

Britain is more sexist now than it has been for a while

I agree

Aside from the immediate derailment of your OP I pretty much agree. I was both nurse and midwife and very much hesitant when anyone asks for advice or an opinion on joining these professions.

Having said that I passionately believe that these professions need bright, enthusiastic (and maybe a little idealistic ) people to have any chance of things improving.

My closest friend’s DD has begun MH nursing quite recently. When I was first aware of her ambition I was really guarded in my reaction but then, what I’ve written above became more clear in my mind. We need to campaign for better working conditions and support all those who are brave enough to take on the challenges.

Talk about derailing a thread.

I would say the lack of female’s wanting to be teachers and the slow death of this profession is what’s more likely to screw up our next generation of children

lack of good teachers due to poor pay is what will screw up our children. Whether they are male or female is irrelevant. Why must we categorise jobs according to sex?

I'm have actually been talking to my son about nursing. He is just about to turn 13. He is kind of a practical boy, but gentle soul. He is really interested in anatomy and physiology. For an easy life, I'd probably encourage physio. He does seem interested in the physiology of illness, though, hence the nursing.

But 75 percent of teachers are female that’s why it’s relevant. Female”s have traditionally entered roles that’s have poor pay and conditions and focused on extrinsic rewards ( improving lives etc). However I don’t think this generation on females will accept poor work conditions that previous generations had. I don’t see men stampeding to enter roles that have such poor conditions

Yanbu. It's like the scales have fallen from the eyes of women in caring jobs. They might have started out thinking its more about making a difference than the money, but they've been pushed too far with the lack of funding and have realised they've been taken advantage of

Typically female jobs have always been undervalued and underpaid. I do think this is a more general public sector thing- I come from a military family for example and don't know a single person who would recommend their child join, when the opposite used to be true. You are right that this recommendation and encouragement from parents is becoming less prevalent now and it is no doubt having an impact on recruitment.

It's about undervalued work in general, which I agree includes a lot of "traditionally female" professions. But doctors too are much more likely to discourage their offspring from entering the profession nowadays. (And there are interesting discussions around the "feminisation of the medical workforce" and its declining status, chicken or egg question possibly)

Public sector / public service - really important questions of how we value essential work and the people who do it.

The jobs still need to be done though. So its good thing young women are refusing to go into these roles, because ultimately it will mean the pay and conditions will have to improve until people will be willing to do them. There will of course be a painful period of transition.

Society and economy has relied far too long on the good will of females who care and want to 'help'. It's not valued properly, and the sooner woman start getting a bit more savvy about this (like men are) the better.

I wanted to become a teacher but my father, a male junior school teacher, refused to pay my grant top up because of the way the profession was going. This was in 1982

Well said. Let’s not turn the focus away and concentrate on choice of words. The main issue is a very serious one. Jobs traditionally more likely to be done by women are struggling to recruit and many women currently in these roles are dissuading the next generation from entering those careers because of how awful the jobs now are.

Oh give over. We all know these roles would be better paid and have better working conditions if they were not - in practice and seen by society as - "women's jobs".

I think many many jobs are a lot more stressful than in the past. It's partly a demographic thing - fewer workers, aging population, employers struggling to recruit, economics meaning its harder for some businesses to make money so employees are pushed harder and harder.

The way they will get round it is to force unemployed women on UC to take the jobs There is a thread running on here at the moment with posters INSISTENT that there wont be a higher chance and risk of abuse if people who really dont want to do jobs like care work are forced into it. THATS how much this work is valued. As the Job Centres default setting. IMO care work should be taken OUT of the remit of Job Centres altogether. Im not saying everyone who the JC pushes into care work will abuse residents Of course not. But the RISK is higher if you force someone into it who does not want to be there.