The Urban Geography of Women’s Daily Lives

The Urban Geography of Women’s Daily Lives

Melissa R. GilbertDepartment of Geography and Urban StudiesTemple University

July 19, 2005

bITS Geographies Informal Science Lecture SeriesSponsored by the National Science Foundation

Urban Geography

Urban geographers ask the following questions:

Why are different types of people, activities (industry, recreation, residential), and infrastructure (buildings, highways, public transportation) located where they are and why does that matter to people’s every day lives in metropolitan areas? How has this changed over time?

Who benefits from the allocation of resources (jobs, housing, education, parks, libraries) and power (economic, political) and who does not? How has this changed over time?

What do we want our cities to look like? How do we make them work better for all people? How do we go about making the changes happen?

How do we answer these questions?

To understand the geography of cities many people will look to the actions of politicians, city planners or major developers. But only a partial perspective.

Ordinary people create the everyday geographies of the city.

– Place-based social networks.– Choices about where to live, work,

worship, shop etc.– Community activists/volunteers/agents of

change

Data Sources

– Maps, census data, archival data etc.– People—interviews, surveys, observation

etc.

Urban Geography

Urban Geography and WomenMy research goals:

What can we learn about the geography of cities from the perspective of ordinary people—particularly women and girls?

How do gender roles help to explain the way cities look and are experienced by women and men?

Sex= biological differences between males and females

Gender =the socially created differences between men and women

Gender Roles= the socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with masculinity and femininity. Gender roles change over time and are different in various places and cultures.

Occupational Segregation by Gender

What is occupational segregation by gender?

The segregation of women and men into distinct occupations is a well documented characteristic of the U.S. labor force.

In 462 of the 500 job categories that exist in the US, at least 80% of the workers were either women OR men.

– 98% of all secretaries are women, 91% of all nurses, 98.8 % of all preschool and secondary teachers, 86% of all data entry workers.

– 90% of all engineers are men, 85% of police officers and detectives, and 92% of all precision, production, craft and repair workers.

– 15% of all professors in geography are women.

20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women, U.S.(2001 annual averages)

Occupations

Total employed

(women)

Total employed

(men and women)

Percent Women

Women’s median usual

weekly earnings

Ratio of women’s earnings to men’s earnings

(in thousands) (in %) (in $$) (in %)

Total, 16 years and over

62,992 135,073 46.6% $511 76.0%

Managers and administrators

2,486 8,018 31.0 762 65.6

Secretaries 2,366 2,404 98.4 475 n.a.

Cashiers 2,288 2,974 76.9 292 89.3

Sales supervisors and proprietors

1,990 4,836 44.1 502 70.5

Registered nurses 2,013 2,162 93.1 820 87.9

Elementary school teachers

1,828 2,216 82.5 731 94.9

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

1,874 2,081 90.0 356 89.7

Bookkeepers, accounting, and auditing clerks

1,506 1,621 92.9 474 93.7

Waiters and waitresses

1,029 1,347 76.4 317 87.3

Sales workers, retail, and personal services3

1,023 2,311 44.3 n.a. n.a.

Receptionists 1,015 1,047 96.9 401 n.a.

Sales workers, other commodities3

925 1,426 64.9 351 82.0

Accountants and auditors

975 1,657 58.8 687 72.0

20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women, U.S.(continued)

Occupations

Total employed

(women)

Total employed

(men and women)

Percent Women

Women’s median usual

weekly earnings

Ratio of women’s earnings to men’s earnings

(in thousands) (in %) (in $$) (in %)

Total, 16 years and over

62,992 135,073 46.6 $511 76.0%

Cooks 881 2,073 42.5 305 87.9

Investigators and adjusters, excluding insurance

878 1,171 75.0 487 89.4

Janitors and cleaners

779 2,166 36.0 318 81.7

Secondary school teachers

763 1,304 58.5 759 91.9

Hairdressers and cosmetologists

772 854 90.4 374 n.a.

General office clerks

756 903 83.7 462 96.0

Administrative support occupations

779 1,020 76.4 512 82.3

Why does occupational segregation by gender matter?

Occupational segregation by gender matters because the jobs that many women take earn less money. The wage gap is one of the major causes of economic inequality today.

2003 Median Annual Earnings by Race and Sex

Race/gender Earnings Wage ratio

White men $41,211 100.0%

Black men $32,241 78.2

White women $31,169 75.6

Black women $26,965 65.4

Hispanic men $26,083 63.3

Hispanic women $22,363 54.3

All men $40,668

All women $30,724

Wage gap 75.5%


Why does occupational segregation by gender matter?

While the wage gap has been declining over the past 15 years, too much of that decline is do to men’s wages declining in general.

Women's Earnings as a Percentage of Men's, 1951–2003

(for year-round, full-time work)Year Percent

1951 63.9%

1960 60.7

1970 59.4

1980 60.2

1990 71.6

2000 73.3

2001 76.3

2002 76.6

2003 75.5


What causes it?

55% of the wage gap can be explained by education, experience, industry, occupation, union rates or work hours

45% of the wage gap can be explained by discrimination, stereotyping, and gender role socialization.


How does geography contribute to occupational segregation by gender?

Large scale studies based on surveys show that:

Women have shorter commutes to work than men and that women in so-called “women’s jobs” have the shortest commutes of all.

Why? Gender roles. Women with children tend to search for jobs closer to home because of child care, domestic responsibilities and limited access to transportation.

Social networks, developed in places, connect women to so-called “women’s jobs” and men to so-called “men’s jobs.”

Why? Gender roles. Women—other women, family, community and local contacts.

Men—other men and work contacts.


Research Goals and Methods

Research Objective Why do women choose their jobs? Why do women use social networks? Do they use

different types of networks for different reasons? What do woman think would make their lives

easier?

Whom did I interview? 95 working women with children Worcester, MA 2 hr. interviews, taped, transcribed, coded,

analyzed

How did I find them? Community leaders Word of mouth

What types of questions did I ask?

Open ended questions – Where did they go everyday?– How did they make their job, child care,

and housing decisions?– What role did social networks play in their

daily life?– What would make their lives easier?

Close ended questions– Job, child care, and housing histories– Household members, number and ages of

children etc.

Research Goals and Methods

Results

The Spatial Extent of Women’s Daily Lives

Women had short travel times to work but women’s travel times to work increased substantially when you take child care into account

”It takes five minutes for me to get from my job to the [day care], and usually I'll talk to [her son’s] teachers because I like to know what happened during the day with him, because he's the youngest... So I'll stay there like ten, fifteen minutes sometimes. And then we'll leave and it takes like ten minutes if the traffic is o.k. to get the girls [at another day care].” African-American woman, data entry

“Well, it's [childcare one] just five minutes [from work], but in the wrong direction. So I go there and pick her up, and I have to go pick up the other kid which is maybe ten minutes from there [childcare one], and then from there [childcare two] going home is another five minutes. But it would take at least a half hour because you can't just go there and throw the kid in the car as you drive by slowly. You have to park the car, go up the stairs, dress the kid, bring her down the stairs, do the seatbelt, and do the same thing for the next kid.” White woman, typist

Results


Child care adds time to the work trip

“I pick him [her son] up. It's so funny because it's like this whole scenario starting over again. I remember when he was going to daycare and it used to drive me crazy that I had to drop him off, pick him up, drop him off. I would tell George [her husband], “you're going to get your turn, when that kid goes to school (laugh).” But it seems like it just never works that way. It seems like the mothers are always stuck picking up the kid and dropping him off, no matter what, you know what I'm saying? To drop him off, I leave the house at 8:00, he's there by 8:30 so 1/2 hour drive. And then from there I go to work which is another 20 minutes or so. It takes me about an hour more or less to commute.” Puerto Rican woman, teacher

Results


Many women would not travel further to work for higher pay because of their children

”[I wouldn't travel far] because in the back of my mind would be getting my kids so I would think if the car broke down, if I got a flat tire, ran out of gas, all of those factors would be in the back of my mind and I don't want the stress. So probably the most I would do would be 20 minutes, but that would be if it's a great paying job and [during] the hours my kids were in school.” White woman, data entry

”I wouldn't go too far [to work], I'm having trouble as it is. I need to be there if something happens with the kids--15 minutes max.--like where I work now, it takes about 15 minutes to get to any school I might need to.” African-American woman, typist

ResultsThe Interrelatedness of Housing,

Employment, and Childcare Decisions

Women must fulfill the roles of mother, employee, and family provider. Therefore, many women’s employment, child care, and housing decisions are complex and interrelated

“[I switched from night shift to day shift] because my girls were growing . . . I knew they were going to be interested in boys and I wanted to be home at night [laugh]. So when they wanted to go to parties . . . and their father would say no, but he sleeps very soundly and they'd be sneaking right on out so I wanted to be home.” African-American woman, trouble center operator, electric company

”So I used to work 11-7 in a nursing home but that wasn't really working out because I couldn't take of my son and take my daughter to school, I was too tired when I came back so it just didn't work out…. Then he [her husband] used to work from 7:00 in the morning to 3:00 so I used to work 3-11. Sometimes and my sister would just watch the kids or his aunt or somebody would watch the kids til he got home.” Puerto Rican woman, nursing aide

Results

The Interrelatedness of Housing, Employment, and Child Care Decisions

The intertwined nature of women’s housing, child care, and employment decisions sets spatial limits on their daily lives.

“I had to run my kids off. Well my two older ones were going to school so I took them over to a neighbor and then the baby, I had to stroll him up the street to a friend's house about five blocks away and then grab a bus and be there to work by 8:00 a.m.” Puerto Rican woman, assistant manager, non-profit organization

Lack of access to cars and reliance on public transportation are big factors in women’s decisions about jobs, child care and housing and sets spatial limits on their daily lives.

“I looked for the job particularly because it was within the bus route...The crossing guard at his [son] school, took him after school...She'd walk him to the bus stop and put him on my city bus. I would like walk up to the front of the bus and say, "o.k. I'm here" and I'd wave to her and he'd get on” White woman, day care provider

Results

Social Networks

The spatial extent of women’s lives helps to determine where and with whom women develop networks.

I started out [how she found a job] when I was on welfare and my landlady, who was wonderful, adopted me as her adopted daughter. ..She invited me to a meeting one night and again, they gave you a $5 stipend for attending. Well, that represented bread and pampers okay. Well little did I know that this is where the networking began. This is where I met other women. …They [neighbors] played a key role [in child care], oh, they really did you know. It was my landlady for a number of years, then she rented out to…an older woman who again was like a motherly, would kind of watch out for the kids. But the last two people who were there were both single parents and we shared. White woman, secretary

Results

Social Networks

The location of social networks helps to determine the spatial extent of women’s daily lives.

“I'm Italian, so it was not just my parents and my sister, I had my grandparents, my aunts [laugh], the whole street was full of family, you know it was just everyone. I paid an insignificant amount of rent, so I got a lot of help with everything...It was real hard for me to get back into that [living with the family], but it was convenient. Nurse

“My daughter sleeps over my sister’s at night time during the week…my sister gets her off [to school] in the morning …they [her sister’s children] all go to the same school…I iron her clothes and everything so all she got to do is give her a bath at night…and get her washed in the morning…My son, I bring him over [to the same sister] early in the morning when I go [to work]…She watches him until I get home from work during my break around 9:00/9:30 a.m. I take him from her and then by 12:00 p.m. she has him back.” African-American woman, school bus attendant

Social Networks

Women rely on people they meet in the community, workplace, and neighborhood as well as family members.

"I was always told, and anyplace I go, I have to find and establish a church family, and that's what you do...I'm not going to say all people at church are good, but you know once you establish yourself, I think you get a lot of help." African-American woman, claims representative, insurance company

Women’s social networks are largely other women except for family.

“And so my brother lived with me because I needed somebody to be there because I couldn't afford to live there by myself. Plus it was kind of desolate you know...after I had the baby... I was a little concerned, you know, oh if anything ever happened you know, or if something happened to me you know like I fell down the steps and died you know who would ever know?...But I would prefer to live alone” White woman, legal secretary

Results

Results

Social Networks

Personal contacts, which connect women to jobs, childcare, housing, and more generally are used for economic and emotional support, can be a resource as well as a constraint.

[Formal day care is] more reliable…without a question...The day care and preschool are always there…I’ve wound up taking a day off because I didn’t have a baby-sitter [her mother took care of her children for no pay]…but the centers don’t close…And I think, you know, they get structure and learn how to socialize with other children. White woman, social worker

”I would have never moved to Massachusetts without having family here. But in a way I'm glad that I'm here and the rest of my family is there [Syracuse, NY]. My downfall is ...I care about them a lot and they used to use that to get money and things because they knew I would give it... and then they wouldn't pay me back. It took from my family.” African-American woman, victims advocate, court system

Results

Social Networks

Social networks are a resource/constraint

“I wouldn't move too far from my parents. My mother doesn't drive and my father is sick...I do the grocery shopping, call the doctors, and stay up in the hospital.” White woman, secretary/receptionist at day care center

“Then what happened was is that they used to rent rooms on Elm Street so then she was paying a lot of money and they wouldn't fix anything so I just had her move in with me and that way she could stay and get a better apartment plus her kids were going to come live with her so then she would take care of my kids and like I wouldn't charge her any rent, I said she should just save her money so that's how we worked things out.” Puerto Rican woman, beautician

Conclusions

Women with children have multiple responsibilities that require them to navigate time/space in complicated ways every day.

These multiple roles set spatial limits on women’s daily lives which limit their choices of work and lead them to low paying jobs.

The spatial boundedness of their lives also allows women to develop social networks in places to help meet their multiple roles as mothers, employees and family providers.

Women rely on different types of networks for different types of assistance. Women’s networks tend to be made up of other women.

Conclusions

These networks can be both constraining (leading to low paying jobs or unreliable childcare) and/or enabling (allowing a housing-childcare-job solution within severe time/space constraints).

“I have a lot of contacts in the community. Part of it has been my jobs and besides that my mother was in social services when I was a kid so a lot of it is roots and I always use my resources...I have a lot of friends at work. It is sort of a women's network. I also belong to a black women's network group…We all grew up together. Our fathers and mothers knew each other. We all lived in the same neighborhood or same side of the city. In the group I was in we all talked about leaving and how it would be to terminate some place that you grew up and that was really horrendous you know thinking about it. I know the streets, I know where the jobs are, I could pick up the phone and call you. My mom is here. You go to Atlanta or Virginia, you don't have those contacts, you don't have any coping. What do you do to replace the coping? So it's easier to stay here. “ African-American woman, case manager, social welfare agency

Conclusions

“When I came to Worcester, I met a woman who I cleaned houses with for one month. I was living at a shelter and I found a job. Eventually I moved into a co-op because Pam (a friend) convinced me to…I left my kids with neighbors. Even for me it was pretty iffy and risky, but it worked out OK…That's just the way I am--it is a conscious strategy …When you don't have your family nearby, you have to turn to people who aren't related to you. I have no family in Worcester. I meet people through my children and through friends at work." White woman, administrative assistant and cashier

Policy Implications

Affordable and high quality child care located near home and work

Improve public transportation and lower costs

Job training and education in non-traditional fields

Housing policies that do not disrupt social networks

Value “women’s work” in the home and workplace

The Urban Geography of Women’s Daily Lives

Documents

Transcript of The Urban Geography of Women’s Daily Lives