Research project The new inequalities: gender/class divides and labour market flexibilization

In recent decades, Swedish women have gained in higher education and shifted from part-time to full-time work. Despite this, the gender wage gap has stalled, and gender health inequalities have sparked new debates, notably the rise in women's sick leave.

To identify the mechanisms sustaining such inequalities – especially in a country with equalizing policies – we should consider how labor market flexibilization has changed the "rules of the game" since the 1990s.  This study investigates if and how flexible scheduling and learning at work – two central aspects of flexibilization – drive/counteract gender-related inequalities in wages and (ill) health and how patterns vary between highly and low-educated women. Flexibilization likely affects high- and low-skilled women differently in terms of work conditions and work-family balance.

Using data from the Swedish Level of Living Surveys 1991–2020/22, we address the following questions:

1. How did work conditions – particularly flexible scheduling, on-the-job training, work hours and job strain – change between 1991 and 2020/22? Can we see a gender-class polarisation and to what extent can changes in work conditions account for gender gaps in wages and ill-health?
2. To what extent can access to, and lack of, schedule flexibility account for gender-class patterns in wages and ill-health? How are relationships mediated/moderated by time in paid and unpaid work?
3. To what extent can on-the-job training, and lack of such training, account for gender-class patterns in wages and ill-health? How are relationships mediated/moderated by time in paid and unpaid work?
4. How does occupational gender segregation contribute to gender gaps in wages and ill-health for high-and low-skilled groups and how is flexibility related to occupational and individual-level inequalities?