CHANGING PATTERNS OF SEX SEGREGATED OCCUPATIONS THROUGHOUT THE LIFE-COURSE

Analysing retrospective, longitudinal data from the SCELI survey, this paper studies changes in occupational segregation for women, and also for men, from 1946 to 1986. Occupational segregation by sex, which has shown remarkable stability since the turn of the century, has attracted considerable interest, but most research has been carried out on cross-sectional data. The study of longitudinal data adds the important time dimension, providing a dynamic analysis. Changes can be examined throughout the life-course of individuals. This has been done in Germany but not yet in Britain. Using both subjective recall and census occupational groupings, occupations are categorized as male-dominant, integrated, or female-dominant. Three recent hypotheses are tested and varying degrees of support are found. The findings are that movement between sectors is not random, nor are changes in the integrated sector limited to the full-time workforce. There is agreement with German longitudinal findings on the importance of (a) first jobs and (b) first labour-market re-entry jobs after childbirth. This helps explain continuities in occupational sex segregation and the associated sex differentials in earnings and social status.