Escape the threat of redundancy with a franchise

With more women in the workplace, it comes as no surprise, that the number of female redundancies will be higher than in previous recessions. For the women who are eager to erase the possibility of facing redundancy or who have already been made redundant, investing in a franchise could be the key to a successful future

As unemployment reaches a 12-year high with two million out of work and 1.23 million on job seeker's allowance, it becomes harder to dissociate the two 'R's - recession and redundancy - from one another. In previous recessions when the men - the breadwinners of the family at the time - were laid off, women came to the rescue. 'Back in the 1980s,' reflects Ros Altmann, a former economic advisor at Number 10, the recession 'was actually an opportunity for women to get on the job ladder in a way they hadn't done before, and that really drove growth, boosting family incomes, which benefited the economy.'

Fast-forward to the present day and both genders will now feel the brunt of this recession with widespread redundancies occurring across the board including sectors popular with women such as retail and services. Never before have women been affected by a recession in this way. Professor Marilyn Davidon of Manchester Business School describes the impact as: 'a very new phenomenon.' This is because Britain has 'far more women in work (over 70 per cent in 2004 compared to just 42 per cent in 1971), far more one parent families, and far more female breadwinners.'

In the national press there is growing speculation that the recession will hit women harder than men, with more women being made redundant. However, Dr John Philpott Chief Economist and Public Policy Director at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) disagrees: 'The suggestion that women are being relatively hard hit by the recession looks to be something of an exaggeration.

'It is a truism that more women will lose jobs in this recession than in previous recession - there are simply more women in the workforce. Yet while one can't yet rule out the possibility that women will lose out relative to men in the job stakes as the recession unfolds, this is categorically not true of the jobs downturn to date. Men account for eight in 10 of the jobs lost between the beginning of the jobs downturn in the spring of 2008 and the late autumn. During that period male employment fell by 0.4 per cent more than female employment, while the number of unemployed men increased by 21 per cent - seven per cent more than unemployed women.'

While these figures imply that women at the moment are not being as badly affected by the recession as men, it is a fact that this recession will leave more women out of work than ever before. For the women who want to eliminate the threat of redundancy from their lives for good, franchising is a suitable solution. With its diverse range of investment opportunities franchising has something to offer everyone. By investing in a franchise, individuals are able to be their own boss and build their own business with the help and guidance of a knowledgeable franchisor to ensure they avoid the common pitfalls of starting up a business.

By becoming their own boss women will finally have control over their work/life balance so if they need flexible hours to fit in with childcare or are thinking of planning a family they can work hours to fit in with any family commitments while still bringing in a good salary.

Reported by Jess Sturman