The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a report which predicts an increase in unemployment amongst women of up to 22 million this year. The ILO warned that although to this juncture the financial crisis has affected primarily male sectors of the job industry, the effects will soon spread into fields dominated by women.

Though, according to the report, “sectors that were initially impacted the hardest, which were finance, insurance and real estate, construction and manufacturing were often dominated by male workers.”, the waning consumer confidence brought on by the recession will have a detrimental effect on other areas: waitresses, sales associates and other typically female lines of work.

More than 50% of the public service industry is staffed by women, research has shown, and with an ever-growing demand for cost-cutting methods the sector could very well soon resemble the automotive industry, experts fear.

According to the study’s author, Jeff Johnson, it won’t solely be women losing jobs this upcoming year; in addition to the 22 million predicted female job losses, another 29 million are predicted for males. The difference is, Johnson writes, that no social protection is in place for women in the developing word, who are often working on a piece meal basis.

The ILO is urging governments to ensure these social protection needs are met and fair salaries are provided in the many stimulus packages they will likely pass in the coming weeks.

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