Introduction

This chapter outlines a set of difficulties – conceptualised here as ‘myths, puzzles and problems’ – that need to be addressed if women's position in their local labour markets is to be understood, explained and addressed in public policy. It draws on a reading of the now extensive literature on women and the labour market, and considers some of the ‘received wisdom’ about women and employment. The chapter identifies a number of themes to which we return in later chapters of the book. In it, we highlight some aspects of women's employment and labour market situation that remain poorly understood, and consider topics where evidence, theories and ‘knowledge’ have been produced – and where (in some cases) policy actions have been developed – but where interpretations and theories are contested, misleading or incorrect, or where apparently intractable problems remain.

The critical backdrop to this discussion is a question often posed (and one initially addressed to us by some policy makers and practitioners, both at national level and in some of the localities studied in the GELLM research programme). With both jobs held by women and labour market opportunities on an upward trajectory, and with improving educational outcomes and qualification levels among young women (often exceeding the achievements of young men), what is the difficulty for women in participating in and progressing in the labour market? Surely at the start of the 21st century women have better jobs, more opportunities in the labour market and more choices and options than at any previous time? The chapter challenges the assumptions behind this perspective, paving the way for our presentation (in later chapters of this book) of evidence from the GELLM studies.

The new evidence produced in the GELLM research programme between 2003 and 2006 – an extensive and detailed body of evidence about women's situation in 12 local labour markets – provides a wealth of local-level, gender-focused data about women's experiences of paid work and access to employment. As we move through the chapter, we highlight a range of topics, arguing that in each case there are three types of concern to which our evidence can be applied: myths about women in employment that have wide currency and have influenced policy; puzzles where there are competing theoretical positions or gaps in understanding; and problems that have been tackled at the practical or theoretical level (or both), but which have not gone away.