Unemployed men and women without income?

The impact of Austro-fascist regime’s labour market policies on the gendered normalisation of unemployment.

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the Austro-fascist unemployment and labour market policies on the gendered normalization of unemployment. Analysing the regime’s legislation concerning unemployment benefits and the practice of labour offices regarding the possible placement of women seeking work, as well as different practices used by women and men to sustain themselves when out of work, the author asks when and under what conditions women could claim unemployment status. The article seeks to illuminate how the way labour market regulations operated to limit the extent of women’s formal employment and consequently unemployment, and how these restrictions reinforced and stabilized inequalities between women and men.