colloqium final essay good copy

The Feminization of Precarious Labor in North America

Meghan Ditta

Elizabeth Dauphine

AP/POLS 4985

Tuesday, March 31st, 2015

211599966

Feminization of Precarious Labor 2

Table of Contents

Introduction: 3

Similarity of Experiences: Gender Norms and Roles in Relation to Labor: 4-6

Gender Division of Labor, Dependence and Male Authority: 4-6

Initial Encounters with the Market and the Double Burden: 5-6

Intersectionality of Gender and Race in the Feminized Workforce during Twentieth

Century: 6-10

Industrialization and Urbanization in North America: 6-7

The World Wars and the Push/Pull Factors of Women In and Out of Work: 7-9

The Post-War Period and the Women’s Movement: 9-11

Towards Neoliberalism: Changes and Continuties: 11-17

Economic and Political Changes: 10-11

Naturalizing Precarious Labor and the Continuity of Women’s Domestic Roles: 11-14

Undervaluing of Gendered Jobs and the Continuity of Gender Norms: 16-17

Exacerbated and Entrenched Inequalities for Racial Minorities and Racialized

Immigrants: 17-23

Class and Racial Inequalities Exacerbated by Changing Economic Norms: 18-19

Retrenching the Welfare State: Gendered and Racialized Poverty: 19-21

Racialized Precarious Labor Limiting Labor Force Mobility: 21-23

Conclusion: 23-24


Introduction

The feminization of precarious labor is something that has its historical roots in capitalist

North American societies and has been politically, economically and socially reproduced over

time; it also affects different women in different ways. This essay will argue that the

feminization of precarious labor and the undervaluing of gendered jobs in twenty-first century

North America is the result of historical and social reproductions that characterize the proper

“female” roles both within the home and successively, the labor force. Despite the many

differences between the experiences of North American-born and immigrant women, as an

overall gender group, they share comparable experiences regarding the social expectations of

female domesticity and male dependency which impacts the type of labor women did when

entering the formal labor force during the twentieth century. However, racial minorities and

racialized immigrant women in North America faced multiple intersecting social and economic

struggles during the twentieth century, in contrast to the position of middle class white women in

the labor force, placing them in a structurally disadvantaged position which was reinforced with

the turn to neoliberalism. Neoliberal capitalism influenced changes in the North American labor

market, as well as social policy, away from the welfare state. This has had major consequences

for women, who make up the majority of precarious labor and exist within undervalued gendered

jobs. More specifically, racialized immigrant and minority women face social reproductions of

their inequalities which have been entrenched by neoliberalism because they were not in a

similar position to adapt to the changes the latter ensued the way white middle class women

were. As neoliberal capitalism continues to be entrenched and naturalized into the social,

political and economic norms of society, women and especially immigrant and minority women

face challenges regarding labor mobility and long term systemic change.


Similarity of Experiences: Gender Norms and Roles in Relation to Labor

It can be said that as an overall gender group, women share comparable social

expectations of female domesticity. These socially constructed ideas were motivated by

capitalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which led to assumptions about

proper gender roles for men and women. These roles not only influenced the types of work that

women did to uphold the family structure but also reinforced their inferior, dependent positions

on men. The designation of the female to the domestic sphere had further implications for

women who did work, creating the double burden, which undervalues unpaid domestic work

done on top of work done outside the home. The purpose of this section will be to show how

female domesticity has been reproduced over time.

Gender Division of Labor, Dependence and Male Authority

The growth of a capitalist market economy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth

century brought changes to work and labor. The demands for labor during industrialization in

North America pulled men into the formal wage labor force as they could no longer support

themselves off their own land and were forced to sell their labor for a wage. (Thistle, 2006)

Given the changing nature of work for men, women were expected to maintain domestic duties,

based on social perceptions of sex, creating the gendered division of labor within the family

structure. (Thistle, 2006) Susan Thistle (2006) notes this division undermined female autonomy

and independence because the only way the women could access basic necessities for survival

was through the male who sold his labor for a wage or specialized in a craft. Although women

were dependent on men in economic terms, Marjorie Cohen (2003) makes the point that the male

was dependent on the female for domestic subsistence production because alternative sources for

the tasks women performed were not available. However, despite the necessary role for women


in reproducing capitalist production through their supporting roles for men, they were

undermined because their dependency on men normalized male authority and privilege both

within and outside the home. (Ferguson, 2008)

Women during the first stage of industrial capitalism lacked means of economic power

over, or even comparable to men. (Thistle, 2006) As men generally had better access to the

market than women did, and as industrial capitalism made the male breadwinner wage possible,

male domestic authority and privilege prevailed. Men could maintain their authority within the

home because he was the central wage provider within the family. A male’s political and

economic experience was held up within the home and Ferguson (2008) note that politics strived

to support social norms about “proper” gender roles that supported male wage labor and female

domesticity. Women were in subordinate political, economic and therefore, social positions in

comparison to men, thus reinforcing female dependence on the male to sustain a comfortable

living. (Thistle, 2006)

Initial Encounters with the Market and the Double Burden

Although it was the case that the majority of women were tied to the domestic sphere and

did not participate in forms of wage labor during the initial encounters with industrial capitalism,

some women did work. This essay recognizes that not all experiences of women who began

working in the early twentieth century were the exact same. However a common thread of the

double burden highlights how women, from their initial encounters with the market, were in

positions of being undervalued for their work not only outside, but inside the home also.

During the first half of the twentieth century, there was a significant amount of women

who would enter the labor force, albeit under severe unequal conditions and poorly paid, if they

were not married. (Phillips & Phillips, 2000) This was only socially acceptable because the


stores, offices or factories that women would work in, would let them go, or the female would

voluntarily leave they labor force once she wed. (Thistle, 2006) However, single women were

still expected to maintain her share of domestic duties within the home supporting her family

structure. (Ferguson, 2008) Racialized women faced more complex encounters with the market

during the early twentieth century considering majority of racial groups resided in rural areas.

(Thistle, 2006) Racialized women were forced to do things like farm work to support her

husband coupled with the double work load within the home. Many racialized women had to

leave their families unattended to work or face the consequence of not being able to sustain the

livelihoods of their children. (Thistle, 2006)

Intersectionality of Gender and Race in the Feminized Workforce in the Twentieth Century

This essay will now use the latter conceptualization of gender overall, to understand the

intersectional marginalization’s that women as a gender group, and racialized low class women

faced as more women entered the workforce throughout the twentieth century. The significance

of this section is to conceptualize the development of a feminized workforce and to understand

the positions that different women occupied within it. This is important because the norms

developed during this period set precedence of future positions that different females would

occupy with changes brought forth by neoliberalism which will be discussed later on in this

paper.

Industrialization and Urbanization in North America

Gender

Industrialization and subsequent urbanization occurred mainly in the first decades of the

1900’s (Strong-Boag, 1979). These initial decades saw more women, albeit still not the majority


of women, entering the workforce; however there was politics surrounding this that contributed

to social norms surrounding the types of women who did work and surrounding the types of

work they did. Veronica Strong-Boag (1979) discusses female working experiences in the

1920’s, a decade where rapid economic modernization was spreading across North America.

Interestingly, she notes that women, who worked, usually single and between the ages of 15-34,

were influenced by schools, magazines and employment bureaus to enter a range of “suitable”

jobs such as caregiving, nursing, clerking and telegraph operating. The purpose was to create

female spheres that would offset a trend of women entering masculine fields. (Strong-Boag,

1979) For example, the province of Ontario in 1928 legislated the Apprenticeship Act for male

entry into industry; however the act solely applied to boys. (Strong-Boag, 1979) It is these kinds

of restrictions that reflected the socialization practices which consigned each sex to different

duties. Strong-Boag (1979) states that “higher wage, capital intensive and monopolistic firms

engaged in the production of commodities like cars and electrical machinery, had little room for

women”. (Strong-Boag, 1979: 148) Rarely when women were found in industry in these initial

decades, they occupied their own segregated spheres and lacked union representation because

women were viewed as unorganizable because of common assumptions about women leaving

the labor force after marriage. (Thistle, 2006) These assumptions, patterns and regulations of

female labor exaggerated differences between men and women and reinforced female vulnerable

and subordinate roles in the market place.

Racialized Women

Racialized women during the early decades of the twentieth century faced multiple

intersecting oppressions in terms of labor. Racialized women faced gender oppressions that were


fluid with racial and class oppressions as well. Many racialized families migrated to urban areas

for the male head to seek more formal employment. However this migration worked to create

racial hierarchies and subsequent class hierarchies in communities in which many racialized

women faced intersecting exclusions of being a racial minority, in a lower class and of female

gender group. (Sears, 2014) It was mentioned in the previous paragraph that women who were

mainly single participated in a feminized formal economy. For women of racialized groups, not

only did single women participate in the labor force, but many married women were required to

take on precarious wage work because for the most part, black men earned far less than white

men. (Thistle, 2006) The fact that many racialized women were forced to work upheld class

hierarchies and norms surrounding racial poverty because it was generally believed that married

women with adequate resources would not seek work. (Phillips & Phillips, 2000)

The World Wars and the Push/Pull Factors of Women In and Out of Work

Gender

The World Wars had significant impacts on women in terms of labor and also created a

context that would set future precedence for working women but also reinforced their

undervalued and authoritative domestic responsibilities in contrast to men. In times of war in

Canada and the United States, institutions, governments and employers were all very influential

on the population about the roles of women. (Newman & White, 2012) It was during war time

that Newman and White (2012) note that the labor market became highly feminized, as women

faced push factors (from government, institutions and a sense of duty to the wartime effort) and

pull factors (work appealing to women to uphold their families, social expectations) into labor.

However, these push/pull factors were not only existent for female entry into the workforce, but


highly effective in relegating women back into their domestic spheres once the war ended.

(Field, 1980) Despite the large pool of women who maintained industry during both world wars,

there is little evidence that shows these periods were anything more than a temporary, war

induced abnormality. (Feild, 1980) For example, after World War II nearly 80,000 women in the

United States were laid off, the government reintroduced marriage bars that prevented married

women from employment in a wide range of professions as well as the end of government

sponsored child care which further limited a woman’s ability to work. (Newman and White,

2012) Although the war time effort created an unprecedented experience of the majority of

women entering the masculine the labor force, which gave them a sense of what it was like and

what it meant to work, it did not remove barriers of social norms and roles of women. This is

important because as women eventually began to enter the labor force from their own will, the

types of work they would do did not mirror the jobs they did during the war; this will be

discussed in the following paragraphs.

Racialized Women

Men and women of racialized groups were also called upon to participate in the war

effort during the first and second World Wars. Racialized groups participated in labor through

industry, however Eric Hatton (2008) notes that the majority of racialized immigrants were

filtered into industries through ‘padrones’ that placed them in precarious, exploitative and low

wage jobs. This reinforced the marginalized and precarious positions of racialized groups that

would undermine them after the war. Further, many immigrant, non-Anglo Saxon and non-white

women worked in middle and upper class white households as those women entered the

professional workforce during the war; this not only further reinforced class and racial

hierarchies between different groups of women, but it also helped lower the occupational value


of personal service because of the women who provided it. (Thistle, 2006) When the wars ended,

male middle class positions within industry were given precedence over any other worker

(racialized men, white women, racialized women) occupying his position since deployment.

(Newman & White, 2012) This is significant because it reinforced of gender and racial

hierarchies of labor North American industries which reinforced class divisions.

The Post-War Period and the Women’s Movement

Gender

The economic booms experienced in North America during a the second World War

helped pull its economies out of the Great Depression and after the war ended there was a

demand for labor to maintain levels of war time production. (Thistle, 2006) This need for labor

gave leverage to workers and unions to ask for gains from the employer and concessions from

the state because work was so valuable in maintaining high levels of economic activity at the

time. This emerging social democracy and welfare state allowed for the standard employment

relationship where men could work fair hours, in good conditions, for considerable wages and

receive protections against unemployment through social safety nets and forms of unemployment

insurance. (Phillips-Fien, 2007) This had impacts on women because as previously mentioned,

women were rarely visible or valued within unions, therefore the standard employment

relationship really only applied to men. As well, welfare state protections applied to full time

workers, and contributed to the family wage, further upholding social norms about women in the

home because it protected against male unemployment that could force women into work.

(Phliips-Fien, 2007) However, as women began to enter the workforce at their own wills, it was

socially frowned upon for women to take up male dominated positions. The result was a specific


type of work that was used to appeal to women and avoid criticism from unionized and protected

male labor. This type of work was temporary and precarious that allowed a woman to work on

her spare time while not taking away the household responsibilities that were still expected to be

upheld. (Hatton, 2008) Hatton (2008) notes that the temp industry in post war America, while

although positive because women working was becoming more socially acceptable, remained

negative because it reinforced gender stereotypes of labor within the home in the professional

workforce by emphasizing the secondary nature and “femininity” of temp jobs and temp

workers. (Hatton, 2008: 20) The problem however is how this feminizing of part time temporary

work set norms for restriction of women into the full time labor force and also normalized pay

gaps between men and women doing similar types of work in a different form for lower wages.

(Newman & White, 2012)

Racialized Women

Many racialized women still faced multiple intersecting oppressions during the post war

period, despite the gains being made in wage labor industries for white men. The standard

employment relationship excluded a host of gendered and racialized occupations. For example,

Leah Vosko (2006) notes that the Unemployment Insurance Act (UEI) in Canada legislated in

1940 works to protect male workers in industry from “the ills of unemployment”. (Vosko, 2008:

15) However, UEI worked to exclude as it did not cover female oriented jobs or

precarious/temporary work which the majority of racialized women were within. (Vosko, 2006)

Further, many racialized women in much of the post-war period remained in undervalued

domestic positions in private homes because the temp industry discussed in the previous

paragraph attracted many white middle class women because they attached themselves to the


respectability of white middle class “ladies” to make clear how far removed they were from

other work agencies that employed non-whites and non-white immigrants who worked under

harsh conditions and petty wages. (Hatton, 2008) This highlights the intersecting oppression of

being a racialized woman who faces limitations within the market because she is a woman, and

because of her skin color, inevitably regulating her to a low class position. Too make matter

worse, the women’s movement, dominated by liberal white feminists, which at the time was

working to politicize private issues and emancipate women from her societal expectations

through things like more access to government programs, left the intersecting problems of

racialized women off the table. (Janovieck, 2006) Bell Hooks (1992) notes how capitalist

consumer societies, in which lower classes are excluded from, subjects racialized groups to

social marginalization and poverty. It has been discusses thus far how racialized groups in large

part were excluded from the benefits of the standard employment relationship and the welfare

state and therefore many remained in positions of social inferiority.

Towards Neoliberalism: Changes and Continuities

This section will seek to use the analysis made in the previous two sections to

conceptualize the contemporary contexts of women in labor, considering the changes ushered in

by neoliberalism in the 1980’s still dominate the economic, political and social structures of

North America. The purpose of analyzing women in the context of neoliberalism is to understand

how neoliberal capitalism changed labor but reinforced the continuity of the forms of labor

women did, naturalizing the feminization of precarious work; this has had significant

consequences because it places these women in socially subordinate positions and makes labor


mobility very difficult. This naturalization of feminized precarious work has also reinforced pre-

existing gender norms that undervalue more formal gendered jobs.

Economic Crisis and Political Changes

As social democracy continued into the 1970’s, businesses and governments alike

became wearied over the fact that excess capacity, industrial capacity exceeding the level of

demand and the decrease of profits being made for business, was undermining capitalist

production. (Phillips-Fien, 2007 ) The result was the emergence of a new right within North

America, guided by the Conservatives in Canada and Ronald Reagan in the United States in the

early 1980’s. (Sears, 2014) Alan Sears (2014) conceptualizes this new right and the changes in

economic policies as ‘the lean state’. (Sears, 2014: 85) He notes that the social policies of the

lean state were meant to form a population that was solely oriented around the market. (Sears,

2014) This process of economic restructuring and in many ways political restructuring, as the

state facilitated the changes, made way for policies that removed labor market rigidities (such as

social safety nets) and allowed the market to function without state interference. (Bowles &

MacPhail, 2008) Things such as the reform of employment security and the reduction of state

spending was meant to foster more efficiency in terms of labor that would allow business to

maximize on profits and lift North American economies out of a crisis. (Bowles & MacPhail,

2008) With economic restructuring occurring, businesses sought the cheapest and most efficient

forms of employment to increase capitalist growth. That being said, the standard employment

relationship that existed in previous decades saw itself eroded as businesses prompted lay-offs,

decreasing wages and less security as a way to reverse the trends that led social democracy into a

crisis in the first place. (Phillips-Fien, 2007) Susan Thistle (2006) notes by the mid 1990’s all

means of government support for women’s unpaid household work, such as government


assistance or the family wage, was gone. Further, Vosko (2006) mentions by the early 1990’s full

time permanent jobs became much less common, making it harder for women to integrate into

such occupations. All these changes had significant long term economic and social

consequences for women generally.

Naturalizing Precarious Labor and the Continuity of Women’s Domestic Roles

This essay recognizes that not all women occupied positions of precarious labor and that

women did make several gains in the second half of the twentieth century in terms of breaking

down the female domestic economy, and gaining economic prominence to access more

professional, formal jobs. However, the reason for discussing and focusing on precarious labor is

to show how that specific form of labor is feminized and why it has remained as such. Leah

Vosko (2006) describes how precarious employment during the 1970’s began to be associated

with part time or temporary wage work, solo self employment or multiple job holding. The

changing demographics of the labor force in North America was encouraged by employers, via

pressure on the state, to view of precarious employment forms and work arrangements as the key

to flexibility. (Vosko, 2006) At the time of neoliberal transition it was mainly women who filled

the void of flexibility in work. Many women who were not working up until the time of the

1980’s crisis found themselves pushed into work because the standard employment relationship

that existed under social democracy was increasingly eroded, forcing women to bring in a second

income. (Cranford & Vosko, 2006) As precarious employment became more widespread across a

range of industries and defined new types of work in a neoliberal society, such as telegraphic

work from home or part time work within the service industry, women found themselves

occupying the majority of this kind of work; Vosko (2006) notes that in 2003 women accounted


for over 6:10 ratio of those with part time temporary or solo jobs and accounted for three fourths

of the part time permanent labor force. It can be said that because precarious work became so

normalized for women in the second half of the twentieth century, this social construction

reproduced itself in the neoliberal era. Given the overall context of neoliberalism for labor, as

was discussed in the previous paragraph, it became difficult for women to escape their precarious

and gendered positions considering structural limitations that existed, squeezing the pool of

secure formal employment for both men and women alike. (Phillips & Phillips, 2000) Hence, the

problem lies in the fact that women are increasingly forced to take on precarious employment

when full time work is not available or if employers find it more profitable to employ part time

workers to evade granting job security or promotion ladders. (Phillips & Phillips, 2000) The

growth of non-standard employment created a dichotomy between formal, well paid, legally

protected jobs and tenious, less compensated and less secure jobs, in which women occupied the

majority of the latter. (Vosko & Cranford, 2006)

The naturalization of precarious and gendered work resulting from neoliberal capitalist

transformation in North America has had a dual marginalization effect on women as unpaid

domestic work is still maintained by women. According to Vosko (2006) women are more eight

times more likely to take on forms of precarious work for child caring responsibilities compared

to men. This trade off contributes to the entrenchment of precarious labor among women and the

betterment of men’s labor market positions. (Vosko & Cranford, 2006) The double burden that

was discussed in the first section of this essay has manifested across time as women throughout

the twentieth century were presumed ‘natural’ caregivers, and even as neoliberalism changed

labor market relations, the social constructions of women as caregivers has been maintained.

This is a big problem for women because not only does this social norm limit her ability to move


up the latter in more formal professional jobs, it also works to create other social norms where in

marriage, a males career is presumed to take precedence over his wife’s. (Grose, 2014) Even

though employment rates of women with children have risen dramatically over the past thirty

years, women’s share of unpaid domestic work remains constant with women upholding two

thirds of unpaid work; unchanged since the 1960’s. (Vosko, 2006) To add to this, Phillips and

Phillips (2000) note that statistically, women are more likely to leave or quit a job for family or

personal reasons and this has led to a resistance of women occupying highly skilled, formal

secure jobs.

At this point it is also necessary to conceptualize which types of women are more likely

to occupy precarious positions based on their historically constructed social stratums. Joanne

Naiman (2012) discusses how positions occupied by all workers in society can be categorized by

the ‘working class’ and social positions, whether identified by race, ethnicity or income, should

be terms a social stratum. (Naiman, 2012) This distinction is important because it will be used

here to show how women are divided in terms of their labor and why some women occupy

professional or formal types of employment. Cynthia Cranford and Leah Vosko (2006) note how

the feminization of employment norms result in heightened inequalities among women along

social locations of race. They mention that racial minority and racial immigrants are more likely

to occupy positions of temporary wage work than non-visible minorities. (Cranford & Vosko,

2006) This can be said to be an extension of the intersections experienced by racialized groups

throughout the twentieth century. For example, the standard employment relationship which

existed throughout the twentieth century was a male norm and has historically relegated

racialized groups to precarious forms of employment characterized by poor working conditions

and wages. (Crawford, Vosko, 2006) This gives insight into existing social norms that allow


some groups more opportunities. White middle class groups have long experienced higher social

stratum positions throughout the twentieth century, so women who existed within these groups

had better long term outlooks if they wanted to pursue education to enter the professional, secure

labor force. (Naiman, 2012) Racialized women were not in similar economic or social positions

as their non-visible minority counterparts and therefore when the shift to neoliberalism occurred,

they were not able to adapt similar to white middle class women. The consequences of such and

future outlooks for racialized women in the current North American labor market will be

discussed in the next section.

Undervaluing of Gender Jobs and the Continuity of Gender Norms

The purpose of this sub section will be to analyze how gendered jobs are precarious in

that they are undervalued. Labor characterized as ‘women’s work’ remains undervalued

considering it embodies domestic responsibilities. As this paper has discussed, historically and

contemporarily domestic work remains unpaid which in itself undervalues the domestic work

females do and because so much of domestic personal service was largely occupied by racialized

women throughout the twentieth century, these kinds of positions in the formal labor force

remain undervalued. (Thistle, 2006) As well, not only is ‘women’s work’ undervalued but, as a

result of social discrimination of what constitutes proper female roles, women have been

channeled into a narrow range of occupations which puts downward pressure on wages

considering the overcrowding of a female reserve labor force. (Phillips and Phillips, 2000)

Occupations commonly known as women work or ‘pink jobs’ range from clerical and

telework, personal service, teaching, nursing and ancillary work. To use ancillary work as an

example, Pat Armstrong and Kate Laxer (2006) note how women have struggled hard to have the


work of care recognized as both valuable and skilled, yet their work still remains invisible and

undervalued in terms of their capacities and contribution to health work. (Armstrong & Laxer,

2006) Ancillary work is services such as food preparation, cleaning, maintenance but also

clerical services that is not necessarily direct care. Armstrong and Laxer (2006) show the

significance of ancillary work when they note that “social, physical and psychological

environments are critical for those that are ill, frail or suffer from chronic conditions that make

them vulnerable”. (Armstrong & Laxer, 2006: 117) Ancillary work is thus necessary to maintain

these kinds of environments and temporary workers which crowd this field can lack full

knowledge and experience that could lead to critical errors. Thus, the lack of security of these

jobs leads to less commitment and less quality. (Armstrong & Laxer, 2006) Therefore, not only

does precarious labor in ancillary work problematic for those occupying positions but also

impacts those receiving such services.

Exacerbated and Entrenched Inequalities for Racial Minorities and Racialized Immigrants

The purpose of this section will be to show how racial minorities and racialized

immigrants face both social and economic inequalities that have been exacerbated and

entrenched in the labor market as a result of neoliberal transformation. Class and racial

inequalities in North America have been exacerbated by changing economic norms created

through neoliberal capitalism that reinforce the underprivileged position of racialized precarious

working women in society. Further, as a result of neoliberal policy changes, poverty has become

gendered and racialized. This will be shown by looking at the disadvantaged positions of

racialized women facing the retrenchment of the welfare state while continuing to occupy

precarious forms of work. The final subsection here will look at the politics surrounding


racialized precarious labor that limits labor force mobility and thus reinforces and further

entrenches inequalities faced by racialized women.

Class and Racial Inequalities Exacerbated by Changing Economic Norms

An individualized culture has been brought forth by neoliberal capitalism in that the

social policies of the neoliberal state oriented solely around the market; the sale of one’s capacity

to work and purchase commodities to meet their wants and needs. (Sears, 2014) This

individualized culture places the responsibility of maintaining a good standard of living directly

on the backs of workers. In other words, barriers surrounding the labor market are depoliticized.

(Sears, 2014) This is especially problematic because this individualized culture reinforces fluid

class and racial inequalities that existed throughout the twentieth century that were political

issues. Sears (2014) notes that the regime of market discipline is coercive in that those without

means to enter the formal, secure labor force are deprived of equal goods and services despite

their needs. However, it is also consented by many non-racialized middle class groups of society

who view the market choice as a desirable alternative to state administered services that have

been socially degraded. The neoliberal state thus focuses on the ethos of the lean person and lean

principles avoiding dependence on the state. (Sears, 2014) Sears (2014) interestingly notes that

the shift to neoliberalism divides residential spaces between classes in society and as racialized

groups have historically held lower class positions, this division has ‘hardened into a politics of

refusal to pay for government services that were rendered to those living elsewhere’. (Sears,

2014: 96) Thus, it is clear that individual motivation currently drives neoliberal capitalism but

this exacerbates inequalities for racialized women in precarious employment who face barriers to

taking advantage of market choices in ways non-racialized women could.


Racial and class inequalities have been reproduced through generations through

precarious forms of labor for racialized, lower class groups. When comparing racialized females

experiences throughout the twentieth century, one can see that there are continuities in the

current neoliberal era. For example, as racialized women made up the majority of extremely

precarious work and lacked (as a group) similar education or formal experience levels as their

non-racialized counterparts throughout the twentieth cenutry. (Newman & White, 2012)

Neoliberal transformation worked to deteriorate employment opportunities for those with less

education and thus left many racialized women in the unpaid domestic spheres, only being able

to turn to precarious work. (Thistle, 2006) For example, Marjorie Cohen (2003) notes that the

structural underpinnings of unemployment for lower class racilized women, such as lack of

formal job training or childcare responsibilities, marginalizes them in the workplace and it is the

individual who is blamed for not acquiring the skills they need to find a job in the formal

economy. (Cohen, 2003) Thus, many racialized women are subjected to precarious employment

and make up a disproportionate amount of females constituting the feminization of precarious

labor. (Tastsoglou & Miedema, 2005) Too add to this, Susan Thistle (2006) notes that racialized

women are twice as likely as non-racialized women to occupy poorly paid service positions and

because women are socially constructed as care givers, single racialized mothers are twice as

likely to end up in poverty than single non-racialized mothers; a rate that has not changed since

the 1960s. (Thistle, 2006)

Retrenching the Welfare State: Gendered and Racialized Poverty

Neoliberalism brought forth significant policy changes that will be analyzed here to show

how they have not only reinforced gendered, but more importantly, racialized gendered poverty.

One of the most significant changes that affected racialized women is the drawback of social


services and government programs, resulting from government deregulation. For example, Lea

Caragata (2003) notes that social welfare programs, once intended to protect against fluctuations

in the labor market and foster employment especially for single mothers, has been regarded as

fostering dependency and facilitating government deficit; hence contributing to the social

degradation of such services also. In order to reduce debts, North American governments have

reduced public sector expenditures and interventions, such as the implementation of social safety

nets. (Caragata, 2003) As was mentioned, as a result of continuities in the expectations of female

domestic responsibilities, the burden of child care responsibilities are increasingly placed on the

backs of mothers. Phillips and Phillips (2000) discuss the implications of this, especially for

single mothers, because having to take on child care responsibilities places women in an inferior

position in the labor market and subject these women to take on part time jobs. Thus, this social

conditioning of women as mothers relegates single moms into a small number of jobs that lack

wages to maintain a good standard of living. (Phillips & Phillips, 2000) If one looks at another

neoliberal policy change, privatization of the majority of industries in North America, one can

see how women who occupy precarious positions in privatized industries lack social benefits or

coverage. Racialized women in low class positions are especially impacted by this because they

have to work to maintain the household, but the wages they pull in is not enough to suffice the

costs previously covered by the government, and therefore deals with the burden of having to

raise her family in poverty. (Janovicek, 2006) These positions are further reinforced by the

barriers that limit these women from being eligible for government spending programs that have

lasted throughout the neoliberal era. (Fuller & Vosko, 2008)

The drawback of government spending and services has had significant impacts on

racialized women in terms of the barriers to access services and transfers that still exist. Not only


does this impact racialized women, but these barriers reinforce their marginalized social

positions because of the social norms associated with neoliberalism surrounding government

spending and social services. Some examples to highlight these barriers include the changing

conditionality’s of the Employment Insurance Act in Canada, 1996 and the abolition of the

family allowance. Some reforms of EI include eligibility requirements, such as the candidate

must be actively searching for work, and abolition of benefits for those who voluntarily leave

their jobs for things like pregnancy or bad working conditions. (Vosko, 2006) Further the Family

Allowance, an independent source of income that women were entitled to, has been abolished as

a means of drawing back public spending. Julie Ann McMullin et al (2002) notes that these

policy changes retracting government spending reflect dependency on government programs and

thus constructed and fueled ideas that social program recipients are undeserving. In turn, these

policy changes also give the assumption that everyone is on an equal playing field, rather than

accounting for historical systemic barriers, such as the crowding of precarious labor, that place

racialized groups in marginalized social and economic positions because they cannot make

enough money to supplement for previous income transfers. (McMullin, 2002) This contributes

to the disparity of income equality and social opportunities to move out of precarious labor and

into formal types of employment.

Racialized Precarious Labor Limiting Labor Force Mobility

It may seem that temporary or part time jobs constitutes a way for women to integrate

into the professional labor force, however workers increasingly find it as a dead end rather than a

path towards satisfying employment. (Fuller & Vosko, 2008) As racialized women face

marginalized and unequal positions in the neoliberal era as outlined the previous subsection, it is

difficult for them to afford and have time to participate training programs to allow them market


ready skills; especially if a racialized woman is raising a family on her own. (Janovieck, 2006)

Considering these women crowd precarious employment, they also find their work deskilling

and thus does not allow them to learn a wide range of skills that could be applied across different

sectors. (Creese & Wiebe, 2009) As a result upward mobility is limited and thus entrenches the

systemic inequalities faced by racialized women who do not have opportunities to escape

poverty or move up the job ladder. (Creese & Wiebe, 2009) This is not to say that all racialized

women face labor market marginalizations or that all racialized women occupy low class

positions. The point is to show those racialized groups who are in lower class positions,

occupying the much of the feminized precarious labor force, face entrenched limitations in

escaping these positions once they are occupied.

It is necessary to analyze here the experiences of racialized immigrant women in the

current neoliberal era because the politics surrounding their labor market experiences contributes

to the social marginalizations and economic inequalities experienced by racial minorities as a

whole. By looking at their voided education credentials or experiences, coupled with the rising

level of precarious jobs across a range of sectors, females are in subordinate positions to

maximize on the experiences available for non-immigrants in North America. Further, when

analyzing the experience of racialized immigrants before the shift to neoliberalism and those

immigrating after, one can see how neoliberalism has entrenched inequalities in this new era.

In recent decades, racialized immigrant women have found themselves being forced into

low wage, deskilled and insecure precarious jobs as a means of integrating into the Canadian

labor force. (Buzdugan & Halli, 2009) Gillian Creese and Brandy Wiebe (2009) note that

immigrant post-secondary credentials and professional skills are largely discounted by employers

and these practices of deskilling result in a downward social mobility for highly skilled


immigrants. Interestingly, Creese and Wiebe (2009) also note that this is happening in Canada

despite the fact that the points system of immigration selection is designed to recruit skilled and

professional labor. They use a recent Canadian immigrant names Yalala, a former Nigerian CEO

with a degree in Business Administration and was forced to work low wage, odd jobs that made

her survival hard and undermined her social status having to work jobs occupied by deskilled

workers. (Creese & Wiebe, 2009) Also, having to work precarious jobs makes it difficult to

obtain a Canadian education which further undermines a women’s ability to facilitate full time,

secure labor market integration. (Buzdugan & Halli, 2009) It is also necessary to look at the

performance of immigrant racialized women in the short and long terms. Lori Wilkinson et al

(2006) notes that racialized immigrants arriving after total neoliberal transformation in Canada

and the United states had poorer performances in their long term integration than those arriving

before. This is because those arriving after have had increasingly limited options of labor force

integration because precarious labor was spreading across industry for both men and women.

(Wilkinson et al, 2006) It is shown that racialized women especially have fared worse

considering they immediately integrate into occupations such as low status clerical jobs with low

long term prospective earnings; compared to men who are more likely to integrate into trades.

(Wilkinson et al, 2006) Being in a position where it is difficult to balance work, education or job

training, it makes it very difficult for these women to move out of these precarious jobs into

more formal ones. These struggles reinforce the inequalities between gender, race and class

groups and further reinforce the feminization of precarious labor for racialized women.

Conclusion

This essay has sought to conceptualize the development feminization of precarious labor in

North America and how it has impacted different women in different ways throughout the


twentieth century and subsequently into the current era of neoliberal capitalism. By looking at

the similarity of gender experiences during the initial years of industrial capitalism in North

America one can see how ‘proper’ gender roles developed and the implications this had for

women once they began to enter the labor force during the twentieth century. Throughout the

twentieth century, social norms regarding women impacted the types of work they did once

entering the labor force and fostered intersecting oppressions for racialized groups. The turn

towards neoliberalism and the changes it ushered in naturalized feminized precariousness in the

labor force while also exacerbating and entrenching the inequalities racialized groups faced

throughout the twentieth century. As neoliberal capitalism continues to be entrenched into the

social, political and economic norms of society, women and especially racialized immigrant and

minority women face significant challenges regarding labor mobility and long term systemic

change. This essay has attempted to explore these issues and does not seek to make the claim that

all women face the same issues or that women have not made progress in terms of labor. Rather,

this essay has sought to understand the inequalities that still exist and the fluidity of those

inequalities that exist for certain groups, and the barriers for overcoming them.


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