Men
are being hit much harder by the recession than women, according to Finola
Bruton (pictured), and Irish men are being harder hit than their 
counterparts anywhere else
in Europe.
Mrs
Bruton made the remarks in her closing comments at a conference she chaired
yesterday on women, home and work organised by The Iona Institute.
She
pointed out that unemployment rate for Irish men is 70pc higher than for Irish
women at 17pc versus 10pc and that the Irish
education system is failing young men and “has done a much better job preparing
young women for the job market”.
This
figure was “in sharp contrast to all other European countries, where the rates
of unemployment are roughly equal,” Mrs Bruton said.
“It
is also in contrast to the situation in Ireland in 2007, when male and female
unemployment rates were virtually the same. This difference is found among all
age groups. Of the under 25 year olds who are unemployed in Ireland 233,000 are
male and 123,000 are female”.
Mrs
Bruton acknowledged that unemployment was difficult for both men and women but
she suggested that for men, “whose self identified role in society is often
defined by what they do outside the home, unemployment is particularly
traumatic”.
She
said: “Various studies have described the erosion of their identities, the
isolation of being jobless and the indignities of downward mobility. Then there
is the financial and emotional strain which can corrode family life.
“Men
seem to be more vulnerable than women in how unemployment affects them. This
gender imbalance in the unemployment figures in this country provides a profound
challenge to marriage.
“Kathryn
Edin, a professor of Public Policy at Harvard and an expert in family life, was
quoted recently in The Atlantic as saying that marital relationships, where men
are jobless, are often filled with conflict. Even today, she says men’s
identities are far more defined by their work than women’s and both men and
women become extremely uncomfortable when men’s work goes away.”
She said that the
National Economic and Social Council should “initiate a study to find out why
unemployment is so severely affecting men in this country.”
She will also suggest
that “the resources going into Gender Studies should perhaps be devoted as much
to the number of men on the dole as to the number of women in
boardrooms.”
