In Family Finances: Fragility, Class, and Gender Duffy, Corman, & Pupo (2015) discuss the emergent social reality that faces many Canadian families. Through interviews conducted over the course of six years with 140 industrial workers in southern Ontario, Duffy et al. (2015) bring light to the issues that are defining the new economy. Precarious work, increased economic fragility, and the shrinking divide between the lower and middle class have become new challenges for the coming future. However, where Duffy et al. (2015) fail to fully illuminate the emerging Canadian economic instability is through their disregard for the importance of gender on economic position. This paper aims to show how not through hegemonic practices of gender divisions,
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(2015) found three features that underscore the new narrative of workers in the labour market, and beyond. The first of these is explained as the changing economic landscape, and the growing burden being placed on the individual. Duffy et al. (2015) explain that despite the growing financial demands on Canadian households, income growth has remained stagnant, leaving even the households that have all capable members working, still facing financial challenges. The paper highlights the decline in secure employment, and the increase in precarious work, which has lead to an increase in reports of stress, anxiety, unhappiness, and depression in the modern labour force (Duffy et al., 2015). However, what Duffy et al. (2015) fail to mention is that women are disproportionately represented in precarious work. In the United States, 33 percent of women hold precarious work positions, while only 12 percent of men do (Young, 2010). Additionally, the pay gap between these positions leads to further income disparity, as women earn 20 percent less compared to men, within the US and Canada (Young, 2010). As precarious work leads to an increase in mental health issues and low-income status, it is shown that women experience a greater risk of mental health problems stemming from these issues (Duffy, 2015; Gyamfi, Brooks-Gunn, & Jackson, …show more content…
(2015) provide a passing statement about the way gender intersects with economic fragility and economic pressures. The paper claims that women are at the forefront of the changing economy by listing three ways in which women are bearing the brunt of the changing economic climate. However, the examples of women frame them as being caregivers to their laid-off spouses and children, and struggling with household budgeting. This is not only a simplistic, but archaic analysis of the role of women in the changing economy. Whereas Duffy et al. (2015) talk about broader situations of economic decline across borders, classes, and occupations, they fail to illuminate the effect of gender (McDowell, 2008). Instead, the women are framed within hegemonic representations of domesticity and femininity, without a direct role in labour market changes. They are here only vicarious victims of their husband’s failure to maintain his breadwinner salary (Duffy et al.,
(2015) found three features that underscore the new narrative of workers in the labour market, and beyond. The first of these is explained as the changing economic landscape, and the growing burden being placed on the individual. Duffy et al. (2015) explain that despite the growing financial demands on Canadian households, income growth has remained stagnant, leaving even the households that have all capable members working, still facing financial challenges. The paper highlights the decline in secure employment, and the increase in precarious work, which has lead to an increase in reports of stress, anxiety, unhappiness, and depression in the modern labour force (Duffy et al., 2015). However, what Duffy et al. (2015) fail to mention is that women are disproportionately represented in precarious work. In the United States, 33 percent of women hold precarious work positions, while only 12 percent of men do (Young, 2010). Additionally, the pay gap between these positions leads to further income disparity, as women earn 20 percent less compared to men, within the US and Canada (Young, 2010). As precarious work leads to an increase in mental health issues and low-income status, it is shown that women experience a greater risk of mental health problems stemming from these issues (Duffy, 2015; Gyamfi, Brooks-Gunn, & Jackson, …show more content…
(2015) provide a passing statement about the way gender intersects with economic fragility and economic pressures. The paper claims that women are at the forefront of the changing economy by listing three ways in which women are bearing the brunt of the changing economic climate. However, the examples of women frame them as being caregivers to their laid-off spouses and children, and struggling with household budgeting. This is not only a simplistic, but archaic analysis of the role of women in the changing economy. Whereas Duffy et al. (2015) talk about broader situations of economic decline across borders, classes, and occupations, they fail to illuminate the effect of gender (McDowell, 2008). Instead, the women are framed within hegemonic representations of domesticity and femininity, without a direct role in labour market changes. They are here only vicarious victims of their husband’s failure to maintain his breadwinner salary (Duffy et al.,